Assassinated Pain
by DarkSakura159
Summary: What if, Karma never did realised how severe Shiota Hiromi forced Nagisa to be like a girl. So when Nagisa transferred to Class A without warning and came back later acting exactly like a girl, how does Karma react? While forcing a reluctant Asano Gakushu to help him, Karma will do anything to save his best friend from losing himself before it's too late.
1. Goodbye, Class E

**Hey guys! So I'm finally back to the world of Fanfic! Cheers! Starting university was honestly more tiring than I imagined but it's all good now! Because I don't want to bore you with my uninteresting life story, let me just make three important announcement before you start reading.**

 **First, I want to thank BlueSkyBlue for being my beta readers! Virtual cookies for you my friend! And I also want to thank ToastedWeirdBrain and my other two friends for giving me wonderful ideas for this story. Without them, this story would never be born.**

 **Second, this fanfic is not, and I repeat, is NOT yaoi. There will be no pairings in this fanfic BUT there will be bromance. Maybe some of you might think it's shonen ai but I assure you it's not. There will only be a really really _really_ close friendship between Nagisa and Karma and might possibly Asano but you are free to interpret their relationship as you wish. I do not hold anything against it.**

 **Last but not least, I DO NOT OWN THE COVER IMAGE AND ASSASSINATION CLASSROOM! All credits go to its rightful owner.**

 **Oh, and one more thing, this story takes place during the Civil War (Chapter 149) when Nagisa is fighting Karma.**

* * *

Karma could feel himself losing conscious.

The war between Blue Team and Red Team was at its peak. Only Nagisa and Karma were left, the teams' aces fighting the last battle.

The teams' aces, both fighting for their own beliefs as to whether to eternally bring peace to their dear teacher or to help find a cure to salvage the humanity still left inside him.

Both unwilling to give up as they fought their hardest as a sign of pride to their cause.

And as a sign of respect to their friendship.

'I'm going to faint...' Karma thought warily as blackness started to seep in his vision. He could feel Nagisa's arm around his neck, effectively constricting his carotid artery. He was vaguely aware of the sound of crunching leaves beneath him and also the fact that he was about to lose. Despite this, a small smile slipped onto his face.

'I lose, Nagisa-kun.'

But just as the darkness was about to claim him, it vanished.

Karma let out a harsh cough as oxygen suddenly rushed back. While panting, he looked up and through a clouded vision, saw Nagisa's back facing him. For a moment, he thought the fight was already over with his defeat.

Karma was only right about the first part.

"I surrender."

The fight was over, but it was his victory.

A very bitter victory.

The words were spoken loud and clear, his usually polite tone rang strong and distinct through the forest. Everyone present was stunned as all eyes were focused at Nagisa's face but he refused to meet any one of them, opting to stare at the forest floor.

"What?"

Karma's face showed utter disbelief but there was still unmistakable anger underlying beneath his words.

"What did you say?!"

This time, instead of shock, fury coloured his words. Ever so slowly, he stood up and glared at the blunet's back. But if Nagisa could feel the heat of his glare, he didn't show it as he repeated his words.

"I surrender."

In a blink of an eye, Karma appeared in front of Nagisa. He harshly grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him towards him. His crimson red eyes glared angrily at azure ones but those eyes still refused to meet his. Nagisa's blue bangs shadowed his eyes, making the fury inside Karma to shoot up.

"Take back your words," Karma spoke in a dangerously low voice.

When tense silence filled the air, Karma knew Nagisa wouldn't take back his words. Gritting his teeth, he pulled back his right arm and readied himself to punch Nagisa.

"Karma! STOP!"

Two pairs of arms held him from behind, forcing him to release his grip on Nagisa. But still, Karma violently struggled to escape said arms, all the while glaring at Nagisa who, despite all this, still refused to look at him.

"That's enough! The Blue Team has surrendered! It's over, Karma-kun!" Karasuma yelled as he approached the struggling boy.

"That's right. That's enough."

Everyone seemed to stop moving when they heard a vaguely familiar female voice. Everyone turned to the new voice, all except one. To Nagisa, he felt that time had stopped moving as soon as he heard _her_ voice.

Shiota Hiromi.

Everyone except for Nagisa was taken back by her sudden appearance but she ignored them all, her eyes solely focused on her son.

"Nagisa."

Nagisa involuntarily tensed up when he heard his name being said in those cold and harsh tone.

"Let's go."

Nagisa felt a lump forming in his throat as he slowly turned around and finally faced his mother. As expected, her face revealed nothing but Nagisa could still fell the wavelength emitted by her.

And it clearly showed fury and rage.

Hiromi's glare sharpened when she saw the hesitation in her son's eyes. Nagisa immediately noticed it and visibly flinched before he walked towards his mother with heavy footsteps.

Nagisa's movement seemed to break the spell that froze the whole class and there was an immediate uproar.

"Why are you here?!"

"Where are you taking Nagisa?!"

"Since when were you standing there?!"

"Nagisa! Where are you going?!"

But through the chaos, it was Karasuma that kept a level head. He was quick to react and soon, he was already standing in front of the uninvited woman.

"Shiota Hiromi. You are disrupting the class. Please leave at once."

Hiromi glared at Karasuma impassive face before she lashed out.

"I am leaving! But I'm taking my son with me!"

Karasuma wanted to react her but only one thing stopped him.

Nagisa was looking at him with pleading eyes.

His usually soft azure eyes that seemed to shine with gentleness were filled with desperation, silently screaming, begging him not to anger the woman further.

"Okaa-san, please let me talk to them."

Hiromi now focused her glare at her son, eyes so cold that seemed to freeze Nagisa to the spot. But at the same time, with a glare so filled with anger and fury that it almost scalded Nagisa. Then, without a word, she sharply turned on her heels and left the blue-haired boy to his classmates and teachers.

As soon as she was out of sight, Nagisa bowed low on his waist, keeping his eyes trained to the ground.

"Gomen nasai! Okaa-san said that she wanted to look in my class! But I didn't know that she was here until a few minutes ago! I'm really sorry for her behaviour!"

Again, there was a tense silence when they heard the sudden apology. But before any one of them could recover from the shock, Nagisa shocked them even more. When he spoke, his tone was slow and soft, as if all of his strength had been drained away by his earlier apology.

"I'll be transferring to the main campus... Today is my last day in Class E... Everyone... Thank you for the wonderful times together... I'll definitely cherish them."

It was at that moment that Nagisa finally lifted his head to face the people that had become dear to him. And it was at that moment that everyone saw the pure gratitude and sorrow in those eyes that pierced through their hearts.

Karma knew those eyes.

He had seen them before.

It was those eyes when Nagisa said goodbye before he transferred to Class E.

It was those eyes that Karma hated.

And it was those eyes yet again that caused betrayal to filled inside his heart.

Karma fisted his hands at his sides, his nails digging so deep into his skin that they left cresent moon shaped markings on his palms. Inside, he silently begged Nagisa not to speak anymore but on the outside, he glared hatefully at him, as if daring him to say one more word.

And when Nagisa met those hate filled eyes with his own sorrow filled ones, Karma knew he lost the battle

"Karma-kun, I'm sorry. I knew that we had no other choice. I knew that we had to kill Koro-sensei... But... Just for a moment longer, I wanted to believe that we will always be together." The wishful tone did not escape from anyone as a small sincere graced his lips.

They watched in shock as tears fell from Nagisa's eyes but still, the smile never faded away. And in a blink of an eye, Nagisa straightened up, wiped away his tears and left them behind with one last whisper.

"Everyone, goodbye."

 _We are hitmen._

 _Our target is our teacher._

 _But as of today,_

 _I am no longer a member of class E._


	2. Welcome to Class A

So we're back for the second chapter of 'Assassinated Pain'! Since so many took their time to review, I'll try to answer them the best that I can.

ToastedWeirdBrain : Yay! I finally did! XP

ynius : Thank you!

Amaya Kuruta : Sorry to disappoint you but the relationship between Karma and Nagisa would be purely friendship. But I hope you won't be too disappointed when you read the rest the of the fic!

Rhaelle : Thank you and I hope I'll live up to your expectations!

Frwt : Your questions will be answered in this very chapter! So stay tuned~

Sara3361 : Thank you!

Veneer : *laughs darkly* Your question will be answered due time but be assured, Karma plays a very **big** role in that and Asano did not come willingly!

Hino1Hyuga : Yes! This is your update! Enjoy~

Thank you for all the reviews, alerts, favorites and reads! Once again, a very big thanks to **BlueSkyBlue** for being my awesome beta reader! Hope you guys enjoy the chapter!

Fun fact : Today, 31st of August is Independence Day for my beloved country, Malaysia! So happy Independence Day, my fellow Malaysians! XD

* * *

"I'm truly begging you, Director. Please allow this one selfish request from me," Hiromi said as she slightly bowed her head at the figure in front of her. Beside her, Nagisa was also bowing his head but he kept his eyes onto the ground, not daring to look at the man.

Director Asano was completely speechless. Just 10 minutes ago, the door to his office was opened only to be greeted by two people who known too well, one from meeting the said woman a few days ago and the other from his occasional visits to the Class E. He had wondered briefly why the woman in particular had come to meet him yet again since he had already finalized Shiota Nagisa's class exchange.

But never in his wildest dreams did he suspected this.

One glance at the boy and he knew that Nagisa was more than reluctant to be here, more so in asking him to accept such ridiculous offer.

"Director Asano, it seems that my request had overwhelmed you. Please consider this request and I will give you some time before you give me the answer. And I hope your answer will be in my favor," Hiromi spoke before she stood up from her chair and slightly bowed her head once more.

"I'll be taking my leave. Farewell, Director Asano," before she swiftly left the room, leaving her son behind.

As soon as the door closed, Director Asano's eyes immediately fell onto the remaining occupant, Shiota Nagisa. Before he had the chance to speak, Nagisa was already talking with his head still bowed to him,

"Please, Director Asano. I'm begging you, please say yes! Just this one time, director, and I will never cause any trouble for you again until the day I graduate. I know the request seemed absurd, childish even! But please just this once, give her your approval!"

As Nagisa continued to beg, his head was lowered and lowered until it was almost touching the surface of the table in front of him. Director Asano's eyes were sharp enough to see that Nagisa's body was slightly trembling from the suppressed emotions. And his ears did not fail to catch the similar tremble in Nagisa's voice.

A sense of pity washed over him when he realized the boy was clearly hating the way he had to beg for a request he was not willing to do.

Truth to be told, Director Asano wanted to reject that request, he would even go as far as to laugh when the first time that request was asked but he couldn't.

Not when he saw how desperate the boy in front of him wanted him to agree.

He knew asking questions would be meaningless but he had to ask, to make sure he wasn't making the wrong decision.

"Will you be able to bear it, Shiota-san?"

A stiff nod was his answer.

Director Asano let out a sigh.

"Very well. I, Asano Gakuho, the chairman of Kunigigaoka Junior High School, agree to allow Shiota Nagisa to wear the girl's school uniform for the rest of the year," Director Asano spoke formally, a little stiff and awkward when he heard the ridiculousness of that one sentence alone.

"Thank you, sir."

When Nagisa finally lifted his head, Director Asano saw the light had dulled in his eyes.

He briefly hoped he didn't make a mistake by agreeing.

* * *

Asano Gakushu was taking his notes as usual when the teacher's voice stopped. Curious, he lifted his head and saw the teacher reading a paper while an unknown student was waiting silently beside her. He saw the teacher's brow burrowed as she kept glancing at the still silent student. Finally, after reading the paper one last time, she faced the class with a slightly disturbed face before spoke,

"Class, a student will be transferring in here today. Please meet Shiota Nagisa."

Asano's head snapped towards the student as his eyes widened in shock when he heard the name. True, he had barely known the boy but he clearly recognized him as one of Class E, someone particularly close to Akabane Karma.

But as he watched the student slowly turning to face the class, he still couldn't believe it was the same student. Because right now, the Shiota Nagisa in front of him was arguably one of the most innocent and cutest boy he had met and instead of the usual pigtails, light blue hair was freely flowing past the shoulders without any hairbands. With him wearing the girl's uniform, one might assume he was actually in fact, a girl.

And just for a second, Asano doubted it was the same Shiota Nagisa.

If Asano was truthfully to himself, he would have said that he thought Nagisa was pretty.

His petite frame fitted the uniform perfectly. His hair and bangs framing his face so flawlessly that it had more than captivated the class. His fair complexion that could make any girl green with envy with legs and hands so slender and slim that they looked delicate. Asano could have sworn he was a girl who coincidently had the same name but when he saw those azure blue eyes, he knew he wasn't mistaken.

He was staring at the same Shiota Nagisa.

But somehow, those blue eyes were different.

They were empty.

But maybe because of those blue eyes that Asano thought it was not the same person.

Those eyes that used to be filled with innocence that anyone could read him like an open book.

Asano was startled out of his musings when the object of his thoughts spoke.

"Pleased to meet you."

His voice was soft and gentle that couldn't be neither feminine or masculine. It was a little bit of both. And if Asano did not Nagisa beforehand, he, along with the class, would be convinced that the new student was a girl.

For the rest of the class, Asano couldn't concentrate on his works as his thoughts continuously went to a certain androgynous boy. And if he had listened to the whispers, he would know that he was not the only one.

* * *

The students of Class E were unusually silent. For the rest of the day, not even one of them had tried to think of any grand assassination plans. And all attempts were clearly half-hearted. Nobody might not say it out loud but over the time they spent together, Nagisa had become a very important classmate to all of them. There was no doubt his absence had greatly affected them.

Korosensei was looking at his students worriedly but his usual grin never faltered. It had been three days since the Nagisa incident. As soon as the shock of the sudden speech by Nagisa wore off, there was only one word to describe the situation,

Chaos.

A mixture of anger, shock, disbelief, rage, doubt was shown clearly on their expressions as they tried to get the answer from the most possible source, himself. But even he was more than overwhelmed and shocked by the sudden events. With his students still bombarding questions around him, he had flown off to the director office.

When asked, the man answered.

Apparently, Shiota Hiromi had met him a few days ago and demanded that his son to transfer to Class A since he had scored the 14th place in the second finals exams. Korosensei tried to protest, telling him it was a little pointless since all the major exams were already over and there was only a little more than 2 months before graduation. In return, Director Asano told him that was his exact answer when the woman had first come to him.

Shiota Hiromi proved to be more than just a controlling mother.

She said that he should have transferred class when he was 31st in the first final exams. And when the director took no action to transfer his class, his ranking dropped to 54nd on the midterm exams. It was all his fault. So when she heard her son got 14th in the second year final exams, she took actions in her own hands and would not allow the same mistake to be repeated.

When Director Asano tried to argue that there was no more exams, she answered he was lying.

There was one last mock entrance exams.

Apparently, this school had made one last _minor_ exam to prepare the students before taking their real high school entrance exams. It was a pointless exam since they had the escalator system. The only reason for the exam was for Class E that was not included in the escalator system.

And since Nagisa would still be taking high school entrance exams as his name would still be under Class E even if he did transfer class, the woman demanded that he changed class.

Seeing as no harm done, Director Asano complied.

Korosensai wanted to protest but the transfer was already finalized. So with a dejected face, he flew back to the top of the mountain where Class E was located. But now, feeling the gloomy atmosphere did not clear even though three days had passed, a very very _very_ small part of him regretted the director had changed for the better.

Because truly, the old director would never approve of this.

Korosensei immediately shook the thoughts away and focused back to the despondent students. But even then, he couldn't think of anything to cheer them up until the bell rang for the end of the day.

However, among the somber expressions, there was one that held calculating eyes.

* * *

Nagisa stared absent-minded at the scenery around him. It was his second day at the main building again so he decided to take a walk to get used to the luxurious facilities provided by the school that was not granted to Class E.

In his mind, he kept telling himself the walk was to reacquaint himself with the school again but his heart knew better. A small part of him, in the deepest corner of his mind, couldn't stand the tense atmosphere around him. The class was too suffocating and it was driving him crazy.

The whispers.

The murmurs.

The glances.

The glares.

The pointing fingers at his direction.

The news had spread like wild fire. It was rare that a student transferred out of class E but it was even more rare that the said student would transfer to Class A. By the time recess came around, practically every student had heard the news.

And it didn't help that some of his former classmates had recognised him. The fact that he was cross-dressing was being debated by almost every student who had even a glimpse of him.

Besides, blue hair isn't that hard to miss.

The unbidden memories of that day replayed in his head.

The day that started everything.

* * *

" _Nagisa-chan, please come here," Shiota Hiromi called out._

 _Nagisa mentally winced at the pet name that his mother was very fond of lately before he got up from his bed, pushing aside the comic he was reading previously._

 _Just as he was about to take his first step at the stairs, he hesitated._

 _He didn't know why but there was a feeling of unease that he couldn't quite shake off since this morning. And somehow, the sickly sweet way his mother was calling him moments ago only intensified the feeling._

 _He knew something was a little off about his mother lately. Both of them would be having a normal dinner when all of a sudden, she would start crying. Alarmed and confused, Nagisa would try to comfort her but she would just slap his hands away and started screaming hysterically that her perfect world consists of a_ _ **daughter**_ _!_ _ **Never**_ _a son!_

 _And it was at that moment Nagisa would stop trying to comfort her, her words stabbing his heart that hurts more than any physical wound she had inflicted before. Instead, he would just silently wash the dishes and crept back to his room._

 _The next day, Hiromi acted as if anything had happened._

 _So it was understandable that Nagisa was more than a little anxious meeting his own mother. That anxiety turned into dread when he saw his mother sitting on the dining table with a white envelope on the table._

 _It was his exam results._

 _He knew he did great on this exam. It was even his best ranking yet! But he still couldn't shake off the apprehension as he took the seat across his mother._

" _Yes, mother?"_

 _When her smile widened, Nagisa was more than ready to run away._

" _Nagisa-chan! Congratulations! I'm so proud of you! Your scores could even beat Class A! You did wonderful, my sweet child!"_

 _Hiromi reached out a gentle caressed his cheeks before her fingers moved to his hair. With one swift movement, she snapped his hairband, letting his hair fall down behind him._

 _Nagisa said nothing as she continued to run her fingers through his hair._

 _This was another habit she started not too long ago._

 _Whenever she saw him, she would snap off his hairband before playing with his hair._

 _And she never called him her son. It was either Nagisa-chan or my child. Nagisa couldn't help but feel hurt that his own mother was unwilling to admit his gender._

" _But you know Nagisa-chan, no matter what I did, I could never have the perfect life,"_

 _Nagisa tensed when he felt the fingers on his hair getting harsher._

" _Nagisa-chan, last month your father sent me a divorce paper," Hiromi's voice was slowly getting hysterically as she gripped his hair._

 _The pain should have been expected but Nagisa couldn't stop the short yell of pain when she yanked his hair._

" _THAT NO GOOD HUSBAND HAD THE GUTS TO DIVORCE ME?! AS IF LEAVING ME TO TAKE CARE OF YOU ALL ALONE ALL THOSE YEARS AGO WASN'T ENOUGH, HE JUST HAD TO DUMP EVERY RESPONSIBILITY ON ME WHEN HE MET ANOTHER WOMAN?!"_

 _Nagisa tried to make her stop, the pain was too much._

 _It hurts so much and this was so wrong because she was his own_ _ **mother**_ _for God's sake and she just won't_ _ **stop**_ _-_

 _He immediately scrambled back when she released her grip. His scalp was throbbing with the abuse and he was still scared about her mental stability._

" _I couldn't have the perfect life, Nagisa-chan. That's why,_ _ **you**_ _will have the ideal world that I had always dreamed of,"_

 _Nagisa stepped back until his back hit the wall as his mother stopped right in front of him. She knelt down so that she was eye level with him before she reached out to play with his hair again._

 _At this point, Nagisa was too scared to move, afraid he would trip some unknown trigger that would set off his mother again._

" _Oh, and while I'm talking about an ideal world…. I so wanted a girl…."_

 _Her hands went limp and went back to her sides before she stood up._

" _The perfect daughter that is not the shame of the family."_

 _The coils of dread tightened as she continued her words, her eyes glinting off mercilessly as she stared right into his eyes,_

" _The perfect daughter that I can proudly brag that_ _ **she**_ _had studied in Class A of the famous Kunugigaoka Junior High School."_

 _And that was the day that Nagisa's world fell apart._

* * *

Nagisa let out a tired sigh, the past events finally taking a toll on his body. Exhaustion washed over him, both mentally and physically. The urge to simply close his eyes was getting stronger by the second and Nagisa couldn't help but think that being Karma would be heaven right now.

Not caring about anyone talking about him.

Not caring about the school rules.

Not even caring when the school practically had a grudge against him.

Nagisa knew that recess was almost over when he realised the noise was steadily decreasing. Nagisa thought about the single piece of sandwich he was allowed to bring for lunch and his stomach immediately churned.

He was hungry but even the mere thought of food made him nauseous.

Again, Nagisa let out weary sigh, his shoulders feeling heavier than ever. But he knew he didn't have time to wallow in self-pity so he straightened his back, let out one last sigh before he replaced it with a practiced gentle smile.

His limbs that felt like lead a second ago moved with enviable grace as he ran his fingers through his long hair so that it cascaded down his shoulders in gentle waves before he made his way to class, his movements relaxed and gracefully as if he didn't feel like the rest of the world was on his shoulders just a few moments ago.

* * *

"Man, I miss Nagisa," Sugino sighed as the others nodded in agreement. Currently, Kayano, Isogai, Kataoka and Sugaya were resting beneath a tree while Sugino was making himself comfortable one top of one of the branches.

It was recess and since none of them could bear being in the gloomy atmosphere any longer, they decided some fresh air could help with their thoughts about a certain blunet.

Silence fell onto them since no one could think of anything to say. Suddenly, their musings were broken when someone appeared in their line of vision. It was so sudden that the startled Sugino almost fell from the tree.

All eyes immediately went to the figure and the said person was already walking away from them. All they saw was the back of the girl's uniform with light blur hair flowing past the shoulders.

For a moment, they were stunned.

Thanks to their months of training, everyone in class had sharpened their senses that it was almost impossible someone without experience could escape their attention. Yet, a complete stranger had caught them off guard when they couldn't detect her presence until it was too late.

But somehow, the girl had an aura around her. An aura that made them involuntarily shivered.

When they saw the girl entered their classroom, they made eye contact and immediately reached an agreement. Without any words, they ran towards their class.

As soon as they entered class, they saw everyone was already there, despite break had not ended yet. Everyone was talking and whispering to each other, very aware of the stranger in the class who was currently in the front of the class with Korosensei. The stranger was facing the teacher so no one could see her face.

"Hey, who are you?"

Immediately everyone stopped talking when Karma asked the question that was on everyone's mind. With his legs on the desk, he was wearing his usual laid-back grin but his eyes were staring right at the unexpected visitor. Korosensei panicked when he felt the tension increased so he let out an obvious sigh of relief when the door opened to reveal Karasuma and Irina.

The two teachers immediately saw the visitor and Irina with a look of distrust, asked,

"Who is she?"

Korosensei immediately tried to calm her down.

"Irina-sensei! Please calm down! He will explain to everyone here!"

Everyone immediately stared at the yellow octopus when they heard the word 'he'.

"Good morning, everyone," came the sudden greeting spoken in a soft gentle voice. A voice that was slightly softer than before but one that they knew too well.

All eyes stared at the assumed 'girl' as he finally turned and faced them.

Nagisa smiled.

"It's been a while."

 _We are hitmen._

 _The target is our sensei._

 _Nobody in Class E could believe that I was standing in front of them._

 _And nobody expected the words that came out of my mouth after that._


	3. The answer will come in 2 weeks

I am back with another chapter! I AM FREE FOR A WHOLE WEEK! *cheers* BUT! MY FINALS IS LESS THAN A MONTH! *cries* So to my lovely readers, I apologise in advance if my update is getting slower but I will try my best to update as much as possible before my finals. So on with the reviews~!

BlueSkyBlue : Aww~! I'm touched! *sniffs* And you are the best beta reader EVER! *hugs*

ynius : 'bacteria bitch'. You don't know how hard I laughed when I read that!

senpen banka : Thank you!

Charolette Ink : I can relate so much!

Amaya Kuruta : Nagisa is in Class A now. I'm really happy you still want to read this!

Crazy. rabbit2 : I hope Nagisa escape his mother too! She's just too evil for poor sweet Nagisa!

Frwt : I know right.

Sparkle9510 : Your review motivated me to update faster so thank you!

* * *

The students stared wide-eyed at Nagisa.

Nagisa just stood there, with his usual smile on his face, as if the fact everyone gawking at him was normal.

Everyone was speechless when a very feminine Nagisa had just came out of nowhere and he easily greeted them as if there was no problem at all.

 _Screech!_

All eyes turned wary when Karma stood up from his chair and walked towards the still smiling Nagisa until he was directly in front of him.

Without warning, he punched him.

His action seemed to shock everyone because they started shouting and some of them even made a move to restrain him.

But they were taken back when Nagisa had easily dodged the punch with the smile still etched.

"Good grief Karma-kun. Can't you solve anything without violence?" Nagisa spoke with a playful exasperation in his voice.

Karma grinned. "So it's really you, Nagisa-kun. Gomen, ne. I had to make sure," Karma said casually but right where Nagisa was right in front of him, he could clearly see the hard glint behind his eyes.

That was when Karma punched him again. But instead of dodging, Nagisa stopped the incoming fist with his hands. He was slightly pushed back from the force.

"Looks like you're still not satisfied with the fight," Nagisa said dryly but still the smile remained. Karma playfully stuck out his tongue before he withdrew his hand and retreated back to his seat.

"Nurufufu~ Now that the welcome exchange is over, Nagisa-kun wants to tell everyone something," Korosensei grinned. At this, all students stared at him in incredulity.

"YOU CALL THAT A WELCOME EXCHANGE?!"

Nagisa, who was unfazed by the shouting students and the cowering teacher, held out his hand in a stop gesture. Every occupant in the room felt a sudden shiver ran down their spines and immediately quieted down. Even the teachers held a slightly surprised expression.

"Everyone, because I am not longer in Class E, I won't be assassinating Korosensai but!" Nagisa's voice was sharp when he saw some of them were ready to protest.

"If for some reason Korosensai is not killed on the day of graduation which is the same day as he will explode, I will kill him. So for the rest of these 2 months, I will not do anything to harm him in any way until the date of the graduation," Nagisa said firmly as he stared at his former classmates.

"Don't mess with me! Who gave you the right to tell us what to do! Not when you suddenly left us without a single word! And you think that you can come back here like nothing happened and order us around?!" Terasaka glared angrily at the smiling blunet.

"And what the hell are you wearing, bastard!? Is that your new hobby since being friends with those shitty main campus students?!" Terasaka shouted, livid with fury when that _damned_ smile did not disappear on Nagisa's face.

Everything happened in a blink of an eye.

Nagisa was suddenly in front of Terasaka and he was terrified to silence when an image of an imaginary snake was coiled around him, squeezing him so painfully that he couldn't breathe when he saw those piercing azure eyes staring at him with that same unnerving smile.

"Terasaka-san, please try to control your temper. Your hot-headness is the reason why people take advantage of you," Nagisa said softly but the words were heard clearly by everyone.

When Terasaka didn't speak, Nagisa turned back to face everyone.

"Recess is almost over. I have to go now. Goodbye."

 _So with the smile never leaving my face, I casually left the wooden class._

 _Nobody tried to stop me because even Korosensei was speechless._

 _They should have known that nothing would be the same._

* * *

Karma hated to admit that even _he_ was affected by that unnerving smile. It was then he realised why that smile had haunted Takaoka all those months ago. Both eyes and smile that were filled with such intense bloodlust that could anyone's blood freeze.

Karman's eyes narrowed.

That was not Nagisa.

Something happened to him. That much was obvious. But Karma couldn't shake off the unease feeling when he saw the girl's uniform that he wore.

Somehow, it felt foreboding.

That's why, as he lined up at the in front of his class, he tried to search for Nagisa while obviously ignoring the useless principal talking on the stage. Before, he always hated these once a month assembly but just this one time, it proved to be useful.

'Maybe this school isn't as useless as he thought,' Karma thought to himself when he spotted blue hair in contrast to the normal black and brown hair around him at Class A.

Karma vaguely heard the words 'exams' and 'high school' and some other worthless gibberish before the principal dismissed them. Ever since the final second term exams, nobody had tried to openly make fun of them anymore. Karma immediately walked towards the blue haired boy.

Karma made a mental note that Nagisa was wearing the same girl's uniform before he caught his wrist. Nagisa didn't even bother to look at him when he spoke,

"What's wrong, Karma-kun? We'll be late for class if we don't hurry."

For some reason, Karma felt deep hatred when he heard that soft feminine voice. Although Nagisa's voice was never deep and masculine to begin with, it was never this gentle and soft. Karma mentally shrugged it off before he said bluntly,

"What the hell happened?"

Around him, students were keeping their distance from both of them. Nobody dared to glance a second time when they saw the red-haired devil. Most of them pitied the blue haired 'girl' that was undoubtly in trouble. Because Akabane Karma always equal to trouble.

Nagisa finally turned and faced him, forcing him to release his grip on his wrists. And with that smile that he came to detest, Nagisa answered,

"The answer will come in 2 more weeks."

Then, his eyes darted to his right, making Karma unconsciously to do the same. But by the time he realised he was tricked, he had completely slipped away into the crowd. With his sharp eyes, Karma scanned the crowd for any blue hair and sighed when he couldn't see any.

The hall cleared after a while but Karma stayed back until there was only one student left aside from him. Someone who was clearly waiting for him.

Asano Gakushu.

Karma lazily grinned as he drawled out,

"You want to ask about Nagisa-kun?"

* * *

"Shioto-san."

All eyes were directed at Nagisa when the teacher called out. Through his line of vision, it was obvious some of them was sneering at him.

"Can you please answer question 10? But it's alright if you can't. You _are_ a former Class E. I do not expect much from you, especially since English is a very difficult for students like you," the teacher mocked him with a malicious smile. At this, some students openly laughed at him.

Nagisa ignored them all and easily answered with an even voice,

" **'O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name. Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love... And I'll no longer be a Capulet**.' This verse shows that Juliet is asking Romeo to disobey his father and refuse the name of Montague so they can be together. However, if he refuses, then she will do so herself and refuse her own name of Capulet as it is the only way for them to be together."

The whole class including the teacher was left speechless. Nobody expected him to be able to recite the verse so flawlessly. Nobody expected him to be able to answer it in full English. And certainly nobody expected him to do all that with a perfect English accent.

"Thank you, Shiota-san. Now, Akama-san please..." Nagisa immediately tuned out when the teacher called out another student. The other students were also shaking off their shocks and focused back at their own books but Nagisa still could feel the occasional glances.

Nagisa knew that the petty teacher would not say even a word of a praise as doing so would acknowledge him. And he knew they will _never_ acknowledge him.

Not until he gave them undeniable proof of his worth.

Nagisa smiled slightly when his thoughts wandered to Bitch-sensei, the one responsible for his fluent accent.

The school bell rang for break and the students rushed out for the cafeteria.

"Shiota-san?"

Nagisa lifted his head in acknowledgement when he heard Asano calling him.

"Yes, Asano-kun?"

"Do you need any help with the studies? It seems there is a difference with the teaching styles between Class A and Class E," Asano offered with his usual smile.

Nagisa smiled back.

"I appreciate the offer, Asano-kun. I hope it's not a burden."

Asano shook his head but his eyes were still fixed on Nagisa.

"No problem at all. Why don't we meet at the library after school?"

* * *

Predictably, the library was completely empty expect for two Class A students. A small pile of Science books was neatly stacked together as Asano was currently marking one book while Nagisa was doing some exercise with the other. Checking over his work, Asano was slightly impressed. He would have never thought that Nagisa was a former Class E with his detailed and complicated answers.

"Your ability to answer these difficult questions is quite impressive, Shiota-san. But I do wonder why you transfer in our class all of the sudden seeing as all of your friends are in Class E," Asano remarked casually when Nagisa received another full mark in one of the set of question.

Nagisa didn't even lift his head from the book when he answered,

"It's because I am still not satisfied enough with my scores. Class A can ensure me that I can be higher than I am now currently."

Asano hummed in agreement.

"But it still does not answer the question as to why you are dressed like that."

Asano paid close attention on Nagisa's face for any change in expression but there was none.

"It's a trivial matter. Besides, I have already gotten your father permission to wear this," he answered and shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly.

Asano rose his eyebrow.

"That is true Shioto-san. However, do you not care about the opinions of the teachers and students? You must be aware that people will be judging you especially when you had transferred from Class E to Class A. They will condemn you, more so with your attire. And I am quite sure you will need some form of their approval if you want to continue to stay in Class A," Asano stated.

It seems Asano finally caught Nagisa's attention when he turned to face him.

And smiled.

"Asano-kun, it's a pity to inform you that you will not be able to manipulate me as easily as the others. I am full aware that you are extracting information from me but just as I've told Karma-kun,"

Nagisa lowered his head and through his bangs, stared right into Asano's face. Asano was frozen onto the spot when an image of an imaginary snake was staring right in front of him before it opened its jaws to reveal two sharp fangs.

"The answer will come in 2 more weeks."

The snake disappeared and a light chuckle was emitted from Nagisa before he returned to his work. As soon as the snake disappeared, Asano clenched his chest in an attempt to calm his too fast beating heart.

Slightly unnerved, he continued to mark the rest of the book.

But he still couldn't help but glance at the seemingly content and innocent expression.

 _It was clear that everyone wanted to know the answer._

 _But none of them have realized yet._

 _Slowly but surely, I am falling in a darkness where none could save me._

* * *

I'm really sorry if the plot is painfully slow. But it gets better, I swear!


	4. Finding the answer

I'm back! So sorry for the late chapter but I will try to update this story once a week or once every two weeks. If it takes me two weeks to update then understand that I am super busy or suffering from a huge writer's block! My finals is in a week and I'm freaking out because there's so much I need to study! T.T Anyway, let's us proceed to the reviews~!

Sparkle9510 : I'm really happy that you love it! For a moment, I was worried that that everyone was OOC but hearing (reading) your review made me relieved! Thanks for the good luck! Now, to continue my studying... *whips out a huge textbook with notes and papers flying everywhere* You will not break me, Study!

Amaya Kuruta : Well in two weeks... tada! You have to read the next chapter to find out! *hides as readers throw tomatoes at me* Well, it was supposed to be this chapter but... *Grins sheepishly* Your welcome and hope you like this chapter also! ^.^

Yhanrah Shinaide : Glad you love it! XD

Zerephel : Just wait until this one chapter I'm gonna write that contain angst all over the place! *laughs manically**readers look at me with a blank face* What?! I think angsty chapters are interesting okay?! *sulks in the corner*

Frwt : The darkness actually means how Nagisa is slowly losing himself in a world where he had to be someone else and his mother controls everything that he did. So sorry for the confusion!

Kearsli : I'm so glad my story encourages you to read more story like this! *celebrates with cake and balloons* Yes! My plan to rule the fanfic world is coming true! Muahahahahaha!

13590anime : First of all, let me just say your profile picture just gave a heart attack for a nanosecond! Akashi having his eyes on me is a nightmare! *shudders* Anyway, here's your update! ^.^

* * *

"Nagisa, can you come over here for a moment?"

Instinctively, Nagisa's grip on his pen tighten but he immediately loosened it before he stood up from his desk. Downstairs, Hiromi was waiting for him with a shopping bag. She flashed him a smile when he neared and took out a beautiful blue floral dress that stopped short on his knees with a deep purple lace decorating the hem.

"As soon as I saw this, I knew it was perfect for you, Nagisa! It goes perfectly with your eyes and you will look absolutely beautiful!" she exclaimed as she held the dress in front of Nagisa's frame.

"And it's the perfect size for you! Hurry and wear it! I can't wait to see you in this!"

None-too-gently, she thrusted the fabric onto his hands, as if daring him to refuse. Nagisa was smart enough to quietly take the dress and went into a bathroom to change.

His hands felt heavy as he lifted his cotton T-shirt over his head. His mind felt numb as he took off his pants. He didn't dare to glance himself at the mirror before he hurriedly pulled the dress over his head.

It was suffocating.

He couldn't breathe when he finally mustered enough courage to look at the mirror. The dress was beautiful and true to his mother's words, the dress did bring out his eyes, making them more eye-catching than ever. The dress was soft and silky and was very gentle to the skin but to Nagisa, it was scalding every inch of skin that it touched. His hair that was never in its usual twintails before was now held back into a single ponytail.

Shakily, Nagisa reached out his hand and touched his reflection. In the mirror, he saw his expression crumpled in pain before he lowered his head, his bangs obscuring his eyes.

He couldn't look at himself anymore.

His fingers that were still on the mirror clenched into fists and he shut his eyes.

"Nagisa! What's taking you so long?! Come out NOW!" The impatience and anger were evident her voice.

Reluctantly, Nagisa gathered his shirt and pants in his hands before he pushed the door opened where an angry Hiromi was waiting. But as soon as she took in his appearance, a gleeful smile broke out and she rushed to hug him. He heard a snap before he felt his hair tumbling down onto his shoulders, free of the restraint of the hairband.

"You look beautiful! I'm so proud of you, my perfect daughter," she whispered the last part as she caressed his hair.

When she finally broke away and pulled back slightly to face Nagisa, he flashed her a smile when he saw the anticipation in her eyes.

A smile he knew that would never be real.

"Thank you, mother."

 _As I saw the delight in those eyes, I could see my world became just a little bit dimmer._

* * *

Karma was staring into space as his classmates were shooting non-stop at the grinning yellow octopus who was moving at Mach 20. He ignored the frustrated sighs from his classmates as they failed yet again to kill their teacher. There was an abrupt change of attitude ever since Nagisa's visit. The dark atmosphere had completely disappeared and was replaced by a new enthusiasm and zeal when Nagisa had challenged them.

But the most obvious was Terasaka. It was clear he had taken a blow on his pride since that incident so with every punch, every shot, there was a slight frustration and strain beneath every assassination attempt.

However, Karma was a different story.

Instead of his usual devious attempts, he had not done a single thing to kill his teacher. Unbidden, his thoughts were constantly revolved around a certain teal haired boy. Ever since his meeting with the boy at the main campus, he tried to find out what event would be taken place in 2 weeks' time.

But the only thing he found was that it was the day of that their mock high school entrance results would come out.

His eyes lazily scanned the classroom.

The exam would start in 3 days and Korosensei was trying to cram every single thing in their brains. Fortunately, it wasn't as severe as before since the exam was not too important but it was obvious the class was too distracted in thinking up ways to kill Korosensei.

Karma wondered briefly that Nagisa knew this would happen. He was about to ridicule that thought since this was _Nagisa_ he's thinking about but he suddenly remembered the smile on that day and changed his answer.

Yeah, he knew.

And it was that though that made him banished all ideas he had come up with to find out the truth about the bluenet.

Somehow, he doubted that any plans he was thinking of would actually work on the current Nagisa.

So all he could do was wait until the day came.

"I don't like the new Nagisa."

The sudden statement made everyone turned towards Kayano who must have suddenly said her thoughts out loud from the look of her blushing face. But seeing as the deed had been done, she braved herself to continue her statement and the embarrassment was changed into concern and worry on her face

"I don't know why but his smile looks..." Kayano trailed off but everyone understood it.

There was no word that could describe the chill they experienced when they saw that smile.

Silently, Karma couldn't help but agreed.

* * *

Asano was looking around as he felt the tension slowly fading away.

There was little to none people walking around. The serene atmosphere in the park was the reason Asano had come in the first place. For some reason, he was feeling anxious since the end of the mock exams.

Maybe because he had tasted defeat before from Akabane Karma and he was determined not to let history repeat itself.

The feeling felt foreign to him.

Because of his father's upbringing, he had never felt nervous and anxious before since it was always guaranteed that he would secure first place.

But not this time.

He had worked hard despite the exam being trivial. He would not let anyone defeat him ever again.

Just as sudden, his thoughts wondered to a teal haired boy. He had silently observed the boy ever since his transfer day. And Asano couldn't help but notice that he was the only one in class that could rival his determination in studying. When the others went for break, he stayed at his seat and finished the homework the teachers had given them earlier that morning. And when others went home when the bell rang, he would pack his things and went to the library.

Once, Asano decided to see how long Shiota had stayed back. When he did leave, it was already dusk.

Asano furrowed his brows.

Somehow, he could almost feel a tint of desperation when he observed Shiota at the library.

As if he had no choice but to complete those workbooks one by one.

He was broken out of his musings when he saw the object of his thoughts standing a few meters away from him. With a sharp gaze, he watched as the boy wondered aimlessly, seemingly to be in thought.

Asano immediately noticed a small girl rushing towards him with another group of children chasing her. The girl was too absorbed in laughing and running away from her friends to hear their shouts of warning and to notice the oblivious boy that she would crash head on.

On instinct, Asano reacted to shout at the boy but the words died in his throat when right in front of his eyes, Shiota disappeared just moments before the girl could crash into him.

He blinked and realised that Shiota had only moved away from the girl's path and was now watching the children with a calculating look, in contrast of the oblivious look he had shown moments ago. Asano was a little startled when he saw the boy again.

He didn't even see when he moved.

And it was at that moment he saw a black haired woman approaching Shiota. The calculating look immediately vanished and was replaced by a smile.

But to Asano, the smile looked strained.

He let himself be engulfed by a hug from the woman. Although he looked completely relaxed, Asano still noticed how he had clenched his fists until they turned white. When the woman released him, she immediately walked away and he silently followed her.

Close enough to know that he was following her but far enough that she could not immediately reached out to him.

Asano deducted that the woman was in fact, his mother.

So why didn't she looked at all disturbed to see her son wearing the girl's uniform?

For a split second, Asano thought that Nagisa did this for his own sick entertainment and his mother had just played along but he immediately discarded the idea.

He could still vividly remember for a fact that Shiota Nagisa used to wear normal boys' clothes.

His thoughts suddenly remembered what Akabane Karma had told him a few weeks ago after assembly,

 _"Shiota Nagisa has a secret that not you nor me could fully comprehend."_

The memory was still fresh in his mind because at that moment, instead of his usual mischievous or lazy grin, Akabane had turned dead serious with a dark expression.

For some reason, Asano found himself glaring suspiciously at the woman as they both slowly disappeared from his sight.

* * *

The class waited in anticipation as Korosensei opened the brown envelope that contained their test results. Truth to be told, none had studied for the exam as seriously as they did during the final second term exams. The challenge from Nagisa kept haunting them, mocking them at the back of their minds and had become their drive to work harder to kill the once human octopus.

And true to their assumptions, their ranks were not as high as before but none had fallen too hard.

"And last but not least, congratulations, Karma-kun! You scored second place with a score of 497 while Asano-kun is in first with a score of 498!" Korosensei announced happily.

Karma bit the fingernail on his thumb in frustration. He could practically imagine the smug look on Asano's face and that irritated him more than anything. And the fact he had lost by a measly one point irked him more than ever.

"Korosensei! What about Nagisa-kun?" Kayano suddenly asked.

Everyone else who finally remembered that Nagisa's name was not called out turned to look at Korosensei expectantly.

"Well..." Korosensei trailed off, mentally debating whether to tell the students or not.

"Hurry up you octopus! We want to know how that stuck up goody-two-shoes scored! I'm not surprised if he didn't get the top 50 considering the time he spent surrounded by those good-for-nothing Class A bastards!" Terasaka sneered. It was obvious that he hadn't forgotten the incident.

There were mix reactions among the students.

Some, like Terasaka, were sneering along with him while others held anger and fury at the jeer. One in particular was emitting a killing aura as he struggled to keep calm.

Nagisa wouldn't want him to beat up the muscle idiot for his sake.

But then again, what he didn't know won't hurt him.

Korosensei realised that if he didn't do anything, there would be a brawl so he quickly made his decision. "Students, please calm down. Now, I'll announce Nagisa-kun's results."

Now, everyone's attention was focused on their teacher.

"Nagisa-kun has been placed second with Karma-kun with a score of 497."

For a moment, nobody said anything.

They blinked.

"What?"

It was Sugino that broke the silence, disbelief colouring his words.

"Nagisa is on par with Karma!"

This time it was Isogai, astonishment clear in his voice but also the admiration and awe.

While all of this happened, none of them realised that a certain red-haired had vanished as soon as Nagisa's results were announced.

* * *

So the answer for two weeks were finally answered! Yup! The only reason for the two weeks was because Nagisa was waiting for the results for the examination! On next chapter, Karma confronts Nagisa!

Leave a review on your way out so that I can know your thoughts so far! It will definitely push me to update faster!


	5. Confrontation on the rooftop

DarkSakura159 is here again with the fifth chapter! I thank for all the wonderful reviews and including those who fav and follow this story! As usually, I thank **BlueSkyBlue** for being my beta reader and I wish her the best of luck for her upcoming exams! Talking about exams, next week is the start of my finals! *gasps* But do not fret, my fellow readers! Next week I only have three papers and ironically, I have English at the end of next week. **On a _Sunday_**! So cross your fingers and pray that my muse would not abandon me because it was jealous I was spending most of my time studying! Now, onwards to the reviews~!

Sparkle9510 : THANK YOU! Your review really made me happy! I am so glad that you approve how I made Asano behave! Honestly, I was honestly stuck on how I should make Asano act because I want him to help Nagisa but at the same he doesn't really care about Nagisa because it's Asano we're talking about... And I also love the bond between Nagisa and Class E! In my opinion, they honestly came a long way in their friendship since the start of the manga and I really hope the bond would last! Ad your idea really did make me smile! XD

PurpleKitten : Hi! XD Nagisa's mother really is scary! *shudders* And about Karma... of course he's going to do something dramatic! XD But maybe you'll have to wait a few more chapters but you'll see how 'dramatic' Karma can be *crackles evilly*

Yuzuhara : Thank you! I'll need all the luck that I can get!

Yhanrah Shinaide : You have to admit that Nagisa is cute when he's short! *sequels like a fangirl when Nagisa blushes* TOO ADORABLE!

13590anime : True, Akashi is amazing! But I think he and Kuroko are super cute when they smile! Although, Akashi might lean more towards sadistic... * chuckles nervously when see Akashi smiling sadistic from behind* Anyway, here's your update!

Jose97 : I'm glad you like it! I'm super happy and absolutely honoured that you review! It's my mission to make silent readers like you be more active by reviewing a story! So I can finally say, mission accomplished! XD

Yuzuriha Kaizen : I'll try my best but since my finals start next week on Tuesday, I make no promises!

Frwt : Here's your update! XP

* * *

The knock was deafening loud in the silent classroom as all attention was focused on the teacher in front. Their graduation was coming closer and they were officially free from studying anything considering that they had finished all of their exams. Despite this, the director(A.K.A Asano Gakuho) was firm that they continued with the high school syllabus, seeing as all of them would enter the same high school and would be under the same school policy yet again.

Slightly irritated that he was disturbed, he tried to mask his irritation when called out for the person from the outside to enter.

However, he was not expecting a certain red-haired school rebel to open the door.

"And what business do you have with Class A, Akabane Karma? If you haven't notice, it is still school hours," the teacher drawled out mockingly, but Karma didn't miss the slight hint of wariness under it.

None of the teachers in the main campus had forgotten about him.

Karma flashed him a grin.

Karma almost laughed out loud when he could practically see the warning bells blaring inside the teacher's head and a glint of fear shone in his eyes.

With his sharp hearing, Karma could hear the almost audible sigh and he immediately turned his attention at the panicking students and smirked at the source of the sigh.

It seemed he was not the only one that saw the alarmed thoughts in his teacher's head.

Nagisa stood up from his seat and flashed the still distressed teacher a smile when he caught his attention.

"I'm sorry Tamaka-sensei, but Karma-kun is here because the director is asking for me. You see, the director wishes to see both of us," Nagisa lied fluently as he stared right into his eyes.

Almost immediately, the alarmed expression changed into an understanding one as he nodded his head and immediately gave his permission to go.

It wasn't that strange for the director to want to meet with the very queer transferred student of Class A.

The news about the already strange student scoring second place and the same level as the previously number one student in the last exam, Akabane Karma, was almost alarmingly fast. It almost caused a riot as students of all classes demanded that the said student had cheated with no more proof except that he did not belong in Class A in the first place.

It was no wonder that the school director wanted to meet the source of all trouble.

Nagisa was about to close the door behind him when the teacher's next words stopped him.

"Asano-kun, class is not dismissed yet," came the stern voice.

Nagisa didn't have to turn around to know that Asano was walking towards the both of them.

"I apologize, sensei, but it seems my _father_ is also expecting me."

Nagisa didn't miss how Asano clearly emphasized the word 'father' and from the pale face of the teacher, it seemed he hadn't either.

Asano didn't even wait for an approval as he slammed the door shut behind him. Meeting Asano's smiling face, Nagisa spoke,

"Shall we find a more secluded place to talk?"

* * *

The three on them were on the roof. Nagisa stared at the layout of the school from above, marveling how so much was given to the students when Class E was suffering so poorly on top of the mountain.

But he guessed that if Class E was treated the same as the others, then Korosensei might not ever appear in their lives. And for that, he was thankful for the biased mistreatment towards the Class E.

For a moment, everything was silent. For some reason, the two red heads weren't demanding him to explain right away and for that, he was grateful. He was still trying to gather his courage to actually tell them. But he knew all too well he couldn't avoid the topic forever so with one last wishful goodbye to the peace he felt, he turned to face the expectant faces of both students.

"Did you realised my answer to your questions yet?" Nagisa asked nonchalantly, acting as if they were simply talking about the weather.

"That's it? Did you honestly thought that just by getting second place would solve everything?" Karma asked with underlying fury in his tone.

Where other students would have cowered at the thought of angering the red haired devil, Nagisa was unfazed in the slightest. In fact, he only wore a thoughtful expression instead.

"Well, in truth I was aiming for the first rank but beggars can't be choosers," he shrugged nonchalantly.

Karma was just a hairline away from snapping. He was just thinking of ways to strangle his best friend when his train of thoughts were broken by his voice,

"It work, didn't it?"

It was a rhetorical question but Karma couldn't help himself.

"No," he said in a deadpanned tone.

But Nagisa shook his head, as if already expecting his answer.

"You don't see, Karma-kun. When I obtained the second rank, I showed the whole school that the Class E should not be underestimated anymore. Did you know, Karma-kun, that they accused of us cheating? But not anymore. When I transferred class, they couldn't accuse of Class E helping each other during exam. If they still accuse us, then they have no one but the teacher in charge to blame. And the school is too proud to blame the school teachers for any fault," Nagisa explained.

"In this case, the students will only blame me for cheating. But that's the only thing they can do. Accuse me without proof. Besides, unconsciously, they are forced to acknowledge me as their own even with my faults. It won't be long. Just for a few more weeks, then after graduation it's all over,"

He didn't say it out loud but his 'fault' clearly indicated his cross-dressing tendencies. And that word hung heavily between them.

Asano was more than satisfied by simply hearing his explanation.

Sadly, it could not be said the same as with Karma.

It was clear that Nagisa hadn't actually told them anything useful. He was trying to stall them but Karma had more than enough.

"Stop with the bullshit, Nagisa-kun! You didn't answer a damn thing! You know what I want to know so stop with the nonsense already!"

For a moment, Asano vaguely saw a look past across Nagisa's eyes but it was gone as quickly as ever.

But it was more than enough for Asano because he had seen that look so many times on his own face since the start of this year.

It was the look of utter defeat.

Nagisa turned and met face to face with Karma's scorching glare.

"My mother was angry and upset at me, Karma-kun because she heard that I was still in Class E. She still thought that Class E was the reason for my terrible grades during the mid-year exam. So when the results of the second semester test came out and I was more than qualified to be in Class A, she met with Director Asano without my knowledge.

"I knew that she was going to transfer me in Class A but I didn't realise that she would meet him so soon. It wasn't until after she met the director did she told me that she got the approval of my transfer. At first, she forced me to transfer straight away but I managed to convince her for me to say goodbye. She told me that if one day she would suddenly come to Class E, it meant that everything has been finalized and I would change class immediately.

"On the day of our fight, she came. I didn't realise she was there until I used my Clap Stunner at you and detected another wavelength. And I knew that my time finally ran out," Nagisa explained, Karma was quick to realise that Nagisa was careful not to mention about Korosensei.

He also realised Nagisa had a faraway look in his eyes, as if he was lost in his own sea of memories.

Karma was not wrong.

Nagisa remembered how painful it was to convince her to give him some time. The bruise took days before it finally faded and he had been sore all over for a whole week. The phantom pain made him internally flinched.

Karma was furious but in an attempt to calm himself, he gritted his teeth when he bit out,

"Why did you surrender?"

The question seemed to snap Nagisa out from his memories as he focused his gaze back at Karma.

"Well, it was obviously a fluke. You see, the only reason I managed to even hold you down because I was desperate. I was going to leave everyone. I didn't want any regrets, so maybe the sudden strength came from that desperation. I'm sure, Karma-kun, that if we fight again, I will lose."

Kara's eyes flashed dangerously and Asano quickly intervened before Karma did something he would regret.

"However, Shiota-san, this does not explain why you are wearing such attire," Asano stated.

He carefully looked for any change of expression.

There was none.

At least, not for what he was hoping for.

A small smile played on his lips before he tipped his head a little and let out a light chuckle.

No, Asano realised, it was a _giggle_. Nobody could deny that the soft sweet music that trickled from his mouth was a giggle, slightly high pitched to emphasize the femininity in his voice but not too high to sound shrilly.

Asano shivered because for some reason, it sounded so _wrong_.

"My mother absolutely loves to doll me up since I am her only child. Considering it's already nearing graduation and the effort my mother had gone through to buy the uniform and obtained permission, I simply can't let her down. Besides..."

For a moment, there was a pregnant pause before he flashed them the most stunning smile Asano had ever seen.

"... don't you think I look pleasing in this?"

A soft wind passed by them, gently playing with Nagisa's hair, as if agreeing with him. But the other two boys were shocked into silence.

Neither could react in time before the bell rang and Shiota Nagisa was gone from their sights.

* * *

Karma stared intently at Asano, his body tensed and his eyes wary of Asano's reaction. Truth to be told, even he wasn't expecting that kind of response from Nagisa, especially that last smile. In the inside, he was still shaken about what that smile had told him.

That smile was screaming insanity.

Karma _needed_ to help Nagisa before it was too late. And he knew he couldn't do it alone. So focusing back at the number one student, he let an easy grin to cover his troubled thoughts.

"You're interested about Nagisa-kun," it was a statement, not a question.

Asano scoffed.

"I am no fool, Akabane. I know there's something wrong with Shiota-san. But don't mistaken as me being interested. It's more of being curious. I want to know the reason of his sudden change of behaviour but I will absolutely not waste my time in helping him," Asano said with a haughty tone but his eyes were dead serious.

Too bad Karma wasn't deterred in the least.

"Oh~? But you know, Asano…."

The playful smirk was immediately replaced with a serious expression.

"You are going to help me, whether you want to or not."

Glaring at the red-haired rebel, Asano turned his back with every intention to leave the place.

And if possible, also leaving every thought about a certain Shiota Nagisa. Because frankly, he knew that this situation was deeper than he first thought.

And he wanted no part of this.

He was about to walk away when Karma called out.

"I'm not giving you a choice, Asano."

However, Asano simply ignored him, despite the chilling tone he had used.

"I'm not going to Kunigigaoka High School next year."

Now _that_ statement made Asano stopped dead in his tracks but he refused to face him, refused to show that his words had an affect him.

"That does not concern me in any way," Asano said in a flippant tone but Karma's grin widened.

"Tsk, tsk, lying is a very bad example as the chairman of the student council," Karma said teasingly.

"Life is a pretty boring world for you Asano. If I wasn't there next year, your life would be dull for you. Because you know there's no one in this world that can compete with you except for me. Without me, you'll still be struggling helplessly in this extremely repetitive tedious monotone uneventful life. All because you can't break free of your father's perfect education system. You'll always getting first in everything without even trying because no one could even get near to your level. No one except for _me_. Help me with Nagisa-kun, Asano and your life will never be dull again."

Asano had to bit his tongue to stop the retort for escaping his lips. Because he just knew that Karma would find a way to use his own words against him.

Because no matter how Asano despised it, it was the truth.

"Why do you care for Shiota-san that much?!" Asano spat out in pure venom. He knew he was cornered and playing dumb would only cause Karma make true of his words.

He completely absolutely _loathed_ in every fibre in his being that Akabane had him in his palm but he _refused_ to go back to that time again!

He expected Karma to answer with his usual laid back personality. He shouldn't be surprised that Karma would be dead serious when it comes to the teal haired teen. He wasn't dense enough to miss the signs that Akabane Karma was protective of Shiota Nagisa.

Yet, he was still caught off guard when Karma looked at him with the most serious expression he had ever seen on the mischievous teen, no humor in his eyes and no smirk adoring his lips as he said with a calm yet flat tone,

"He saved my life."

* * *

Nagisa hid a wince when the back of his head collided with the hard metal of the lockers. Two students loomed over him, malicious smirks on their ugly faces. The said students were actually old classmates of Nagisa when he was still in class D. They stepped closer to Nagisa, completely invading his personal space.

"You know, you're really turning into a sore eyes ever since you transferred class. Must be really great being a genius all of a sudden even when the whole school know that you cheated. I mean, it's impossible someone from Class E could actually get second place!" the first one sneered.

"You're a disgrace to us guys! I mean, what kind of guy would willingly wear _that_!" he spat as he glared at Nagisa's uniform as if he was offended by the said clothing.

"Maybe you should be born a girl in the first place since you're so pathetic as a guy!"

"I think you won't be so useless if you were a girl. At least, it's okay for girls to be weak!"

The mocks and jeers continued and Nagisa _didn't want to hear it anymore._

Nagisa desperately closed his eyes, hopelessly trying to block out their words.

Shut up!

SHUT UP!

 **SHUT UP!**

"What's wrong, Nagisa? Finally realised you're not a man enough to handle being a guy? If it was anyone else, I might feel humiliated as a fellow man but seeing you like this…" he stared leeringly at the tense Nagisa.

"… I might even say this suit you better! Hey, Nagisa! If you really insist of being a girl, maybe we should treat you like one," the both of them let out a roar of laughter as they slammed Nagisa into the lockers again, making him dizzy from the impact.

"Why don't we check to make sure you're really still a guy!"

Before he could regain any coherent thoughts, he was yanked sharply by the hair. Nagisa closed his eyes in an unconscious movement in reaction to the pain.

But as quick as the pain come, it also quickly disappeared.

Nagisa didn't need to open his eyes to know that the two Class D students would be terrified to death. He had long heard the heavy footsteps while they were busy mocking him. Footsteps that could only belonged to adults and there was only one who would still be in this school at this time of the hour.

"Shiota Nagisa."

Nagisa opened his eyes and met face to face with the one and only, Asano Gakuho.

He gave him a gentle smile, completely ignoring how his head was screaming in pain from the rough treatment earlier and the way that two students were drained from any colour while horror and terror were on their faces.

"Good evening, Director Asano."


	6. His prayers were never answered

Hey guys~! So I'm finally done with my English paper and I'm super happy because I only have one more paper after this! *cheers* The downside of it is that the exam is two weeks away so there's a high chance that I'm spending the next two weeks studying and _not_ updating! T.T So I apologise in advance with you have to wait two weeks for the next chapter! Now, onwards to the reviews~!

13590anime : Thank you! Glad to here you like it! Here's your update!

BlueSkyBlue : I miss you so much~! T.T My finals ends in two more weeks so I'll make sure to make up for every chapter that I miss after that!

ynius : Well, Director Asano **will** help but not much! Let's just say his idea for a number one son hasn't completely vanished and it's his twisted kind of way to make Asano learn a lesson on how to handle someone beneath him. *smirks evilly*

KyrieEleisonElise: Honestly, it took _days_ to figure out something that Karma can use as blackmail. I mean, this is Asano Gakushu and I don't think a simple blackmail will cut it. So I'm really glad you approve Karma's method!

Jose97 : I will never be bored reading reviews! What type of fanfic are you doing now? Is it a Naruto fanfic, Harry Potter fanfic, Supernatural fanfic, etcetc ? Because if it's a type that I know, I want to read it! ^.^ I wish the best of luck on your projects!

duchessme : Thank you! ^.^

* * *

Gakuho watched with interest as Nagisa excused himself with the smile never leaving his face. He told him they were playing around, that they were old classmates and wanted to simply catch up with old times. The shaken form and agonized face that he caught a glimpse when he walked into the scene were immediately erased and replaced by that unnerving smile, the desperation that filled his eyes was gone as soon as Gakuho saw the other two students. Nagisa didn't even bat an eye when he stared the boy with an intense gaze but with his usual cold polite smile that could break any normal student under pressure.

Apparently, Shiota Nagisa proved to not be any normal student.

As soon as Nagisa was out of sight, he focused his stare back at the still horrified students.

"I do not care if the students show any discrimination towards the Class E. However…" his eyes gone cold as he gracefully neared their pale faces.

"…I do not tolerate violence, especially towards one of my Class A students."

Gakuho felt no small amount of satisfaction when he saw the tears or the small wet spot in between their pants that showed their utter fear towards the him.

In the eyes of the two students, they saw two large centipedes crawling on their faces. Their many legs touching every inch of their faces as they were frozen on the spot. Suddenly, the centipedes stopped crawling and lifted their heads, which were directly in front of their eyes, before injecting their venom into their blood inside their mouths.

"It would be such a shame that two violent students would be expelled from school just when they are a few weeks away from graduation."

Gakuho absolutely relished in their utter dismay and fear as they comprehend his words.

"Please expect a letter from school to your parents respectively. Also, the both of you do not need to come back here, ever again."

And with that, he left them in the dark hallway.

Because of Class E, Gakuho was a changed man.

But he still has no qualms of using his power to get rid of the trash that litter his perfect school.

* * *

Nagisa stared at the anti-sensei knife in front of him.

Harmless to any human but deadly to the first teacher he had respected.

Slowly, almost tenderly, he held the plastic knife in his hands, his thumb running gently at the dull edge. He positioned the knife across his wrist and made a slashing motion.

But as expected, there wasn't even a single harm to the delicate skin.

A bitter rueful smile graced his lips as he continued to stare at his flawless wrist.

He was a coward.

He didn't even have to guts to take away this hateful life of his.

He was supposed to be strong.

He could have easily beat those bullies earlier.

But rather than the physical wounds, it was their words that made him weak and unable to fight back.

Pathetic.

The knife fell with a silent thud from Nagisa's lax fingers. He brought his knees to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. He buried his face in between his knees, letting his hair act like a curtain shielding him from the harsh reality of the outside world.

Loud shouting was heard downstairs and Nagisa buried his head deeper. He tried to muffle the screams but much to his dismay, his hearing was sharpened greatly since the start of Class E assassination practices.

He knew when he came down for dinner, his mother would glare murderously at her phone and another crack would appear mysteriously at the screen.

His father had called her to convince her to sign the papers again.

He wished his father would just stop. Because the one was going to be hurt was not him, but his son.

His useless cross-dressing son who can't make his own mother happy with him just because he was not born a girl.

"Karma-kun…Korosensei…Karasuma-sensei…Bitch-sensei…everyone…please, take me away," Nagisa whispered as a single tear escaped his closed eyelids.

But as usual, his prayers were never answered.

* * *

Nagisa tried to keep his eyes open at the teacher in front of him. Sadly, it was futile effort. The nights of restless studying and the stress of his mother verbal abuse were taking a toll on his body. Last night, he couldn't even sleep a wink because of his anxiety from his father's phone call and his mother's bad mood.

And yesterday's event didn't help at all.

His head was pounding from the pain.

That morning, he woke up with dark circles more obvious than ever. He knew he couldn't completely hide them with make-up anymore. He tried his best to focus on the board but the teacher's flat monotone tone was just begging him to sleep!

Nagisa counted his blessings when the bell _finally_ rang! He tried to stand up, maybe have a walk around the building to calm his war-like thoughts. Too bad his legs had different ideas. As soon as he realised he was too tired to even stand, he let out a heavy sigh and rested his head on the table.

The change of position only caused the pain in his head to increase but he was just too tired to move so he shut his eyes and hope that sleep would take pity on him.

Thankfully, it did.

* * *

Nagisa woke up with a killer headache. He let out a groan as harsh artificial light attacked his sensitive eyes. He shut his eyes for a moment and it was just then he realised he was laying on something soft. With his eyes still shut, he tried to focus on his other senses to assist his situation.

From the feel of the soft fabric, Nagisa guessed he was on a bed. He could vaguely hear the voices of some teachers as they continued with their lessons so he was relieved to know he was at least still in school. From the smell of slight antiseptic in the air, Nagisa realised he was in the nurse's office.

Unable to hold back his curiosity any longer, he slowly opened his eyes to let them adjust to the light. He was greeted with a mass of red hair.

Nagisa blinked owlishly for a moment before his blurry vision sharpened and the shape of a human face belonging to the red hair came into recognition.

Beneath the cover, his hands were clenched into fists so tightly that it left crescent shaped wounds on his palm when he realised that the red hair did not belong to one person but two.

Two people that he hoped would never see him in this state.

Forcing a strained smile, he greeted them,

"Hello, Karma-kun, Asano-kun."

None of them returned the smile. Instead, Karma took the time to really inspect Nagisa.

He looked horrible.

The concealer under his eyes did nothing to hide the dark circles and only made them worse. His cheeks had lost their baby fat but Karma suspected it was because of the lack of food instead of puberty. His face was gaunt and his usually silky hair had lost its colour. His shoulders were slouched together, as if he was shouldering the whole world and his posture was screaming out exhaustion. His already petite body was so much skinner than before and it was so painfully obvious he was dead tired.

And that only made the smile he wore more painful to look at.

Nagisa's body tensed and his breathed was stuck in his throat when suddenly, Karma roughly grabbed his front shirt and roughly pulled him closer so that their faces were inches apart. At the corner of his eyes, he saw Asano panicked at the abrupt action and Nagisa couldn't blame him.

Even he was stunned and slightly terrified at Karma's dark expression. A sudden wave of nauseas hit him and he shut his eyes in hopes that the dizziness would fade. It was at that moment did he realised how cold it was and he was even shivering!

"Nagisa-kun, someday I won't be able to stop myself from killing you."

Completely startled and caught off guard by Karma's words, he couldn't stop himself as he instinctively struggled to break free of Karma's grip and pressed himself at the head of the bed. His breath quickened at the sudden adrenaline and when he realised there wasn't even an ounce of bloodlust from his ex-classmate, Nagisa was ashamed to admit that just for a moment, he was actually afraid of Karma.

He blinked in surprise when rough hands gently pulled his body into the chest of the owner. Warmth enveloped him as he was embraced by Karma. Nagisa immediately relaxed when he caught whiff of Karma's spicy scent.

'Maybe because of all the wasabi he's carrying around,' Nagisa idly thought as the tension in his body started to fade.

Karma didn't need to say how worried he was when he got a call from Asano, telling him that Nagisa had a dangerously high fever and won't wake up. He didn't need to say his frustration towards Nagisa when he refused to tell him he whole truth. He didn't need to say how helpless he felt as he watched his best friend fell deeper into despair.

No, he didn't need to tell all of them because Nagisa got the message as clear as a crystal through his embrace alone.

Karma cared about him and to Nagisa, that was more than enough.

For once since the start of his transfer to Class A, he felt the burden on his shoulders lightened considerably. As relief flooded inside of him, exhaustion finally came to announce its presence and it wasn't long before he fell asleep in Karma's arms.

Gently as to not awaken the sick student, Karma laid him back onto the bed and covered the feverish body with the white covers. He grabbed the damp cloth on the table at the side of the bed and placed it on his forehead. On instinct, he swept the stray bangs on Nagisa's forehead.

Meanwhile, Asano took the chance to carefully inspect Karma's actions. It was obvious that they were best friends but after Karma's confession about Nagisa saving him, he carefully looked back at their past interactions with a new perspective.

And for once, a part of Akabane Karma actually made sense.

The way he scared off those two Class D students who talked back about Nagisa a few months back. How he stood almost protectively in front of teal-haired during the war between Class A and Class E. Why Nagisa was the only one unfazed by Karma's slightly sadistic behaviour when they were still in Class D.

So when he saw the hidden concern and slightly frustrated hopelessness in his eyes, he finally realised how important the bond between them.

An unexpected pang of envy took his breath away.

Pressing his lips together, he quickly obliterated every thought about friendship and turned to address the school delinquent.

"Akabane, I hope you have a good idea to help Shiota-san because I absolutely refuse to waste my time if you don't have any well-thought out plans."

Asano was slightly impressed when Karma managed to wipe away every expression he had before and faced him with a lazy smirk,

"Of course I have. Who do you take me for?"

* * *

Even after much persuasion, Karma refused to leave Nagisa alone when Asano had gone to his own class. Nagisa suspected that Karma was just too lazy and wanted to skip. Looking after his sick friend was the perfect excuse that Korosensei couldn't argue. Especially since they didn't have exams anymore.

A wave of sadness washed over him when he thought about the yellow octopus alien. Nagisa didn't deny that he missed his target and fellow assassins. Ever since the fight between Blue Team and Red Team, he wondered whether they truly just decided to kill their teacher off or they tried to find the cure.

'Ah,' Nagisa thought guiltily.

'Maybe it's my fault. I was the one who challenged them to kill Korosensei after all.'

Nagisa shook out from his musings when he realised he arrived home. It took a hell lot of convincing a certain red head that he was fine walking alone and no, there was no perverts that's going to take advantage of him.

Even though he was touched and a little bit of embarrassed by Karma's concern, he knew it would only spell bad news if his mother saw Karma. When Karma and Isogai had visited his home for the first time, Hiromi didn't hesitate to voice out her displeasure towards the both of them.

Especially against Karma when he had talked back to her when she had yelled at Nagisa for eating the snacks too much when both Karma and Isogai had eaten five each and Nagisa was just starting his second one. Karma immediately retaliated, saying Nagisa didn't have to be like a 'prissy and proper girl watching out for her diet' because Nagisa weighted less than average.

What Karma didn't realise that Hiromi wanted Nagisa to be that exact 'prissy and proper girl'.

As soon as Nagisa entered the house, Hiromi greeted him with a sickeningly sweet smile. In her hands was a mail from school.

It was his results.

Moments after he realised it, he was engulfed in her embrace.

"Nagisa-chan! Your mother is so proud of you! You got second place in your exams! Even though…"

Nagisa clenched his teeth when a sharp pain tugged from his scalp as her tone darkened slightly. He didn't have to look at her face to know she was wearing a displeased frown.

"…I was hoping you would get first place but no matter!"

And just like that, the pain eased and her voice lightened. He silently let out a sigh of relief when she moved away from him.

"As a reward, mommy bought a present for you!"

It was then he realised she was holding a small black velvet box, not unlike a ring box.

With an excited smile that could fool anyone except for him, Hiromi shoved the box in his hands. With wary eyes, he reluctantly opened the box, hoping against hope that it wasn't a ring.

Thankfully, it wasn't a ring.

Sadly, it was a necklace.

The necklace was simple yet beautiful. The chains and clasp were made from silver and a pendant of his name, Nagisa, in kanji (渚) made from sapphire hanging at the middle.

It was so beautiful that it filled Nagisa's heart with dread.

"Wear it, Nagisa-chan! I want to see how it looks on you!"

With stiff movements, he did as he told. The metal was cool against his warm body from his earlier fever and the weight of the pendant hung loosely in front of his school uniform.

Vaguely, he heard his mother clapping in delight and saying something about it looked perfect on him but Nagisa didn't register all of that. Instead, he felt like the pendant that weighted so little was more than ten pounds, the silver metal around his neck felt like a metal collar, forever chaining him to his mother. The pendant was like a dog tag, telling the whole world that he only belonged to his mother and no one else.

* * *

"Akabane, _please_ tell me you know where you're going," Asano said with a poorly exasperated tone as he continued to trail behind Karma. The said boy only turned around and stuck out his tongue. Asano felt his eye twitched at the immaturity of that action and let out a sigh.

"Of course I do. I only have been there once but I still remember Nagisa-kun's place," Karma said lazily as they turned another corner.

After Karma had blackmailed Asano, he was forced to go along with Karma's _oh so brilliant_ plan to help Nagisa.

Spying at Nagisa's home.

Asano had first scoffed at the idea, saying that spying was for lowly people. For some crazy reason, Asano tagged along anyways.

They finally stopped in front of a house. Checking the name plate, Asano was relieved to see that it was written 'Shiota's residence'.

However, it was short lived when Karma casually jumped over the closed metal gates.

"This is breaching private property!" Asano whispered furiously but Karma only smirked.

"Don't tell me the chairman of the student council can't even do something as simple as jumping over a gate," Karma taunted.

Seething, Asano spat out, "I refuse to commit a crime simply to indulge in your plans!"

He was taken back when he saw black horns and a black tail came out from Karma as he looked at him with a mischievous smirk.

"Asano, you don't want the students to know that their perfect leader fell asleep at the library, do you?" he crackled as he whipped out the said pictures from God knows where.

Eyes widening in surprise, Asano immediately turned furious as he glared at the smirking teen. He tried to snatch the pictures away but with the gate separating them, it was impossible. Growling, Asano easily jumped over the fences and demanded through gritted teeth, "Give me those pictures!"

Karma playfully stuck out his tongue before he lazily threw them at Asano. He easily caught them and immediately proceed to shred them into little bits of pieces.

"I still have a dozen of that same picture and a lot more of different ones," Karma called back as he walked away from him.

Knowing he didn't have a choice, he gritted his teeth and followed him. They climbed a tree that was conveniently near a window and Asano guessed that window lead to Nagisa's room. Shifting his balance to stabilize himself on the branch, he peered inside the room.

The room was a mess.

That fact surprised Asano since he assumed Nagisa was the type to keep his room clean. But when he continued to look around, he realised that the mess was not caused by teenaged male laziness.

In fact, the only thing that was a mess were the many dresses scattered all over the room, something that brought questions to Asano's mind. But the one thing that caught his attention was at the middle of the bed, laid a very beautiful blue sundress. A very beautiful and torn blue sundress.

The sundress was practically in pieces, only kept to together by a few stands of threads. In fact, when Asano looked closer, it was not the only one torn and in pieces. But none of the others were badly torn as the one on the bed.

He felt Karma jumped off the tree when the person they were looking for was not in his room. Asano did the same, albeit feeling a little disturbed by the earlier scene.

Who knew the sweet and gentle Nagisa could be so… violent?

After a few minutes of walking around, they found the object of their thoughts at the garden. He was alone and from afar, was talking to himself. They were too far to hear anything but from the way his face contorted, they assumed it was something that frustrated the teen greatly.

A glint caught Karma's eyes and it was at that moment he saw a necklace tightly clenched in Nagisa's fist.

Asano was carefully looking at Karma's movement at the corner of his eyes. He was internally conflicted whether to sit there and watched the teen or just approach him.

Luckily, Karma solved the problem for him.

Karma stood up from his crouched position and plastered his infamous grin. He was about to step out from their hiding place when an unexpected person came.

Asano realised it was the woman from the time he saw Nagisa at the park.

So, he was right about the woman being his mother.

Seemingly change of plan, Karma frowned at the intruder and went back to his hiding place. From their point of view, the both of them were arguing as Nagisa's face became more frustrated while the woman's face became darker as the argument continued.

 _SLAP!_

They jumped slightly at the unexpected sound. Eyes widened in disbelief, Asano watched as Nagisa's mother's hand was still in the air from the slap as she glared angrily at her son. Even from the distance, Asano could see the bright handprint on Nagisa's cheek.

For some reason, Nagisa showed a minimal amount of shock at the action. His bangs hid his eyes as he refused to look at the woman. The action triggered another switch inside the woman as she started another round of yells and screams. When she realised the boy didn't respond to her, she said something that made him looked at her with horror on his face.

Nagisa tried to say something but she was too angry to care. Finally, there was a look of utter defeat as he said something to her. His words were the right ones because her face immediately changed into a happy one. Slowly, Nagisa unclenched his fist to reveal the necklace he was holding. With a visible tremble in his hands, he wore it as he refused to move his eyes away from the ground.

His actions made his mother happy and she engulfed him in an embrace. Even when she started to play with his hair, he remained unresponsive.

Watching the scene played out in front of him, he didn't even need to hear their conversation to know what happened.

And to know the reason of Nagisa's change.

Judging by how Karma's expression darkened, he understood it too.

* * *

Leave a review on your way out~!


	7. The devil is in the house

DarkSakura159 is finally back! The finals were really nerve wrecking and could only pray that I did a good job! I'm sorry if this chapter is really late but if any of you read my profile, I already explained that it might take me a week after my finals to recover my muse and motivation back! Because honestly, studying and exams are a sure way to kill my ideas! So again, really sorry I took longer than I thought so I'll try to update the next one as soon as possible, okay? *grins sheepishly* Now, onwards with the reviews~!

BlueSkyBlue : Awww~! Thank you! And I hope you have fun with your work!

Amaya Kuruta : Glad you like! I dunno why but I think Karma being an overprotective brother to poor Nagisa makes me squeal so much because it's just awww~!

Tanoshii. sekai : Thank you! I'm really glad my exams are over! *cheers happily*

Yuzuriha Kaizen : Really sorry I couldn't update sooner! *bows apologetically* I hope I'm not too late! *hides under a blanket*

relenasuka : I don't know what you just said but I'm betting on 'poor Nagisa and please continue' so if I'm right, here is the next chapter!

ynius : Dude, you never fail to make me smile with your reviews! XD

KuroCiel : Am I mean when I say your review makes me smile? *grins happily*

Jose97 : Hey! I'm happy to hear from you again! :D Sorry if I took too long to update _'

Sparkle9510 : Don't worry you didn't review the other chapter because your reviews really makes me happy because you took the time to tell me your opinion! And for that, I really appreciate it! Good luck with your life and I hope you like this chapter!

Juliane662 : I know right?! I dunno why but I think Hiromi in my story makes me really angry! Even though I'm the one that made her that way!

* * *

Nagisa was left alone in his room with a throbbing cheek. He stared blankly as his hearing picked out the sound of the front door slamming shut.

His mother was going for grocery shopping and she practically ordered him to stay in his room, locking the door from the outside to make sure he didn't leave. Nagisa didn't care since he knew he could easily climb out through the window.

But truth to be told, all he wanted was to scream and rip his hair out from the frustration of these past weeks. And it was made apparent with the dress massacre that recently occurred in his room. Horror wasn't even close to describe the expression on his mother's face when she saw the state of his room.

If it was another time, Nagisa would snicker sadistically in his mind at her face. But now, he only felt hollow at the seemingly childish victory. Especially when Hiromi had left a nice throbbing pain in his scalp. Breathing out a wary sigh, he fell face first onto his bed. The necklace was still around his neck. He just couldn't find the energy to take it off, no matter how repulsed he felt by it.

Just when he felt his tense body going lax, there was a knock.

Nagisa's head moved so fast that he almost got a whiplash. His eyes searched wildly at the source and it didn't take ten seconds to find it.

There, casually standing on the branch outside his window with his usual grin was Akabane Karma with Asano looking as if he wanted to be anywhere but there.

And right then, Nagisa felt the same way.

With movements similar to a robot, Nagisa got up and neared the window, still unable to comprehend that the number one delinquent and chairman of the student council were _standing outside his window._

When he was in front of the window, Nagisa stared blankly at Karma's grin for a few seconds before he reached out and pulled the curtains close.

'This is a dream this is a dream, this is a dream, this is a dream, this is a dream, this is a dream,' he repeated the words over and over again in his head like a mantra.

But alas! Karma simply slide open the unlocked window and pulled the curtains apart to reveal Nagisa still staring blankly at the spot. Nagisa cursed himself for not locking the said window when Karma stepped inside followed by Asano. Having no other choice, Nagisa stepped back to make room for the two intruders but not enough for them to go deeper inside his room.

Nagisa was very self-conscious about the yellowing bruise on his cheek that Karma no doubt saw at first glance. Humiliation roared inside of him when he realised that they could see the carnage of dresses behind him. Minutes too late did humiliation was replaced with horror when realisation finally struck him.

They could see _everything._

In his panic, Nagisa plastered on the fake gentle smile he had been using lately and became 'feminine Nagisa' when he asked,

"Karma-kun, Asano-kun, what are you doing here?"

Nagisa mentally cringed when he heard how strained his voice sounded. However, Karma's grin only grew at his attempt of calm and immediately warning bells rang in Nagisa's head.

A smirking Karma was never a good thing. Especially when you know you were in huge trouble with him.

"Nagisa-kun~! I just saw something _very_ interesting a few minutes ago. Asano and I saw you and your mom arguing at the garden~! And she even hurt you~! Maybe you can explain what's going on, ne, Nagisa-kun~?" Karma playfully drawled out his words. Too bad Nagisa could easily see the dark fury beneath that relaxed and playful exterior.

Karma was absolutely _livid_.

All colour was drained from Nagisa's face when the words finally sunk in. He knew Karma was a genius despite his rebellious streak and judging from the hidden rage beneath his words, it left no doubt in his mind that Karma had figured out everything.

The shred of calmness that he so desperately tried to maintain was gone in a blink of an eye as panic set in. Meanwhile, Karma was internally chuckling with sadistic satisfaction as he watched his best friend having a mental breakdown.

Although he would never admit it, he was still sore when Nagisa refused to tell him the truth. From his years with Nagisa, Karma had already an idea about how Shiota Hiromi treated his son. But never in his dream that the Nagisa who he secretly admired for his skills was mentally and verbally abused by his own mother.

Maybe it was his guilt but Karma couldn't help but feel ruthless pleasure in seeing Nagisa panic from having his secret out.

Asano wisely said nothing. He knew this problem was between the two friends so he didn't even have an inkling as to why Akabane Karma would go as far as to blackmail him to force him help Nagisa. As far as he could see, he was no use whatsoever. The red head was more than enough to think of a plan himself.

Karma was simply content to wait until Nagisa finally realised he was cornered and pleaded for him to help but his thoughts were shattered when he heard the sound of the front door being opened. Instead of alerting the teal haired teen, he decided to keep silent and waited how the scene would play out. If he was lucky enough, the crazy woman would do something that would be solid proof of her abusing Nagisa and Nagisa wouldn't have any excuses after this.

Too busy to think of a plan to escape his predicament, Nagisa wasn't aware the source of his problem was already home until he heard the door to his room open. He immediately went stock still he when sensed the very familiar wavelength. He didn't have to turn around to know she was standing at his doorway and with the way her wavelength spiked, it was too late to even think about hiding the two uninvited guests.

"Nagisa-chan, why are there two boys in your room?" came the dreaded question.

He knew all too well her hatred for Karma and nothing he will say will soothe her anger. His only saving grace was Asano but if he didn't say anything right now, nothing to stop her from her next pain filled rampage when they were alone. When Nagisa's mind came up with nothing believable, he blurted out the first thing he could think of,

"Asano-kun is my boyfriend and Karma-kun is here because Asano-kun doesn't know the address so he's just showing the way."

There was a very heavy pause. Nagisa didn't dare to face Asano, instead, he focused his stare at his mother reaction. Surprisingly, Hiromi's anger changed into suspicion as she silently eyed Asano.

"What is his name?" she asked Nagisa but her focus was still on Asano. For his part, Asano was completely baffled by the sudden events but his proud personality refused to let him gaping and spluttering in indignation like a fool.

"Asano Gakushu. He's the chairman of the student council and he got first rank in almost every exam! He's really polite and I'm sure you will like him!" Nagisa told her with a nervous enthusiasm. He really felt bad for dragging Asano into this but desperate time calls for desperate measures.

From his point of view, Karma could see Asano opening his mouth, no doubt to deny his non-existent relationship with the other male but Karma instantly shut him up by patting him on the back with no little amount of force that almost knocked Asano off his feet.

Inwardly, he snickered as he put on a falsely sweet smile,

"Asano really cares about Nagisa-kun, right Asano?"

Whatever protest that he had thought of died on his lips when Asano received the warning glare that was sent his way from Akabane. Even knowing that he was not intimidated by subtle threat in the slightest, Asano wisely shut up and instead give a polite smile to the older woman.

"Pleasant evening, Shiota-san. I hope we were not disturbing your quality alone time with your family. Pardon my sudden visit but I forgot to tell Nagisa about a school-related work that must be submitted by this Monday," Asano lied smoothly.

Nagisa was shocked when Asano had called him 'Nagisa' instead of 'Shiota' and without any honorifics on top of that! He was a little ashamed that he addressed Asano by his surname. They were supposed to be a couple so it made perfect sense that they would call each other by their first names now! Mentally, he cursed himself for not thinking of such things.

Little did Nagisa know that the actual reason was because in this situation, Asano had no idea whether to call him 'Nagisa-kun' like Karma or 'Nagisa-chan' like his mother. Asano was observant enough to see that Hiromi's expression visibly darkened when Karma had called him 'Nagisa-kun' and he felt too awkward to call a boy '-chan', no matter how cute and petite the boy might be.

The sudden smile on Hiromi's face took him by surprise. He wasn't expecting the approval clearly made apparent in her eyes.

"Oh, Nagisa-chan! Why didn't you tell me you have a wonderful boyfriend! Mommy is so happy that you 're finally like other girls! And your boyfriend is a gentleman too!" Hiromi exclaimed happily. She threw a not-so-subtle dirty look at Karma's direction before she clasped her hands on Asano's shoulders. Asano was mentally inching away when Hiromi shoved her face closer to his and examined every inch of his face before she nodded in satisfaction.

"Come, Asano-kun! Let's have a talk downstairs! Nagisa-chan! Can you please direct Asano-kun to the living room while I prepare some tea?"

Hiromi didn't even wait for a reply and she instantly left the trio alone. When the sound of her footsteps was gone, Karma snorted. Typical of the woman to completely ignored him.

"Asano-kun, I'm really sorry for dragging you into this!" Nagisa was red with embarrassment when he bowed in apology to the said teen. He glared slightly at the snickering Karma but immediately turned apological when he turned back to Asano.

Asano let out a sigh and ran his hair through his hair, something that Nagisa thought that was a very unAsano-like gesture. He tried to give Nagisa a reassuring smile but it came out strained. Again, the guilt came rushing back tenfold. After seeing that his smile only served to further cause the petite boy to blame himself, Asano dropped the smile with another sigh.

"And may I ask how the sudden turn of event came to be?"

Nagisa visibly cringed at the question and even Karma was looking expectantly at him. It was clear to the three of them that Karma demanded Nagisa to confess everything, and Nagisa had no way to escape this time. Nagisa was saved, however, when they heard the feminine voice that called them from downstairs.

"Nagisa-chan! Bring Asano-kun downstairs! Mommy already prepared some tea for the both of you!"

Nagisa gave them a strained smile before he mouthed, 'Later,' and proceeded to answer the woman's call. It didn't escape Asano's notice that he had pitched his tone so that it matched his usual soft and feminine tone when he used during school. And judging from Karma's expression, neither did he.

As they made their way to the living room, Karma gave Asano a look before he returned the gesture. Silently, an agreement was made between them albeit, a bit grudgingly on Asano's part.

 _You aren't allowed to back away from this situation anymore._

 _I will continue to help you only because of your blackmail._

But both of them knew the hard cruel truth.

If they didn't work together to help Nagisa, then he will _break._

And Asano never did have a grudge against the teal-haired teen.


	8. Mother or Friend?

**I LIVE!**

I'm finally back! First of all, I'm really super duper mega honest-to-God _**so sorry**_ that I disappear without a word. It's my fault I admit so I'm really sorry! Honestly, you guys have to thank those who reviews even when I'm months late because it gave me the motivation that someone is still reading and waiting for this update so thank you to all of my reviewers!

Also, check out the song **Fix You** by **Coldplay.** The song reminds me of this story. Credits to **I Am Legend Not Myth** for suggesting it! ^.^

Now, without further ado, I give you, chapter 8!

* * *

The atmosphere seemed tense and awkward as silence descended upon the four people in the living room. However, the only woman present showed not even an ounce of discomfort, seemingly oblivious to the current atmosphere as she serenely sipped her tea.

Across her was the perfect gentleman who she had immediately approved when her only daughter claimed him to be her 'boyfriend'. Speaking of her daughter, Hiromi narrowed her eyes at Nagisa-chan when she made no signs to drink the tea. When she saw the dark glare directed towards her, she hastily took a dainty sip of her tea, exactly how a proper lady should be. Hiromi smiled in satisfaction before she continued drinking her own tea.

To be honest, she used to constantly fret about her daughter's love life. There were times when she acted disgracefully as a girl, when she insisted that she was uncomfortable wearing a skirt, and even had the gall to ruin those beautiful dresses that she had worked so hard to pay for!

So in her mind, it was completely justified that she would worry about her daughter's non-existent future husband! Especially when she only seen her with that rude red head menace! Her eyes narrowed dangerously at the uninvited delinquent sitting so casually beside her daughter's boyfriend while drinking his tea with less than acceptable manners!

She had hated him the first time he addressed _her daughter_ a ' **he** '! And she knew, even when Nagisa-chan tried to convince her otherwise, that he was the reason that her perfect doll had changed!

She absolutely refused to acknowledge this insufferable hooligan!

And her perfect daughter was hers and _hers alone_!

* * *

Nagisa tensed when he felt the spike of anger from his mother beside him. He was wary when she turned to address him with a slightly strained smile on her lips,

"Nagisa-chan, mommy completely forgot to serve some biscuits for Asano-kun! Please be a dear and take some from the kitchen," she said pleasingly but being so near with her, he could see the unspoken danger glinting in her eyes, as if daring him to refuse. With a heavy heart, Nagisa slowly stood up and walked towards the kitchen.

"You must be getting really old if you can't even remember to serve your own guests some food when you clearly remember the tea~," Karma grinned a little darkly as he fixed his stare on her stiffen posture.

"Why don't you actually be useful and help her," she spat with venom and unconcealed disgust.

"Nah~! If I don't stay here, maybe you'll forget even more important things! For instance, the gender of your own child…"

Karma smirked darkly when he saw the sharp hateful glare directed towards him and he bravely challenged it with his own sinister smile.

A light tug from his sleeve broke him away from the heated staring contest. Nagisa was looking at him pleadingly as he slightly shook his head.

After a few seconds, Karma finally relented. He threw one last dirty look at the glaring woman before he followed Nagisa to the kitchen.

* * *

Asano fidgeted uncomfortable when Karma was out of view and the woman directed her eyes at him instead. Mentally, he cursed Akabane for leaving him alone with this questionable mental woman but he outwardly flashed her a smile.

The delighted smile he received in return did little to reassure him.

"So Asano-kun, I am under the impression that you are the same class as my daughter."

It was not a question but Asano nodded his head anyways.

"Yes I am."

Hiromi hummed in delight before she fired her next question that caught him completely off guard.

"So tell me, how did you fall in love with my daughter?"

Not for the first time, Asano mentally cursed Akabane Karma for dragging him into this mess. It was right there and then that Asano wanted to say the whole truth and be done with it but a gesture from the kitchen caught his eye.

There, standing in clear view from where Asano was sitting, was the mentioned devil grinning darkly at him while gesturing at his phone on his other hand. When Asano's eyes landed on the said phone, his blood ran cold.

There, being displayed proudly on the screen, was a scandalous picture of him playing with a sleeping Nagisa's hair at the library.

Asano's thoughts instantly went back to one of days that he and Nagisa had studied together at the library after school hours. That day, Asano was studying as usual when he realised the blue-haired teen had completely snoozed off. Asano didn't bother to wake him up but for some reason, he took a sudden interest towards Nagisa's hair.

He remembered vaguely that in the past, he had never seen Nagisa with long hair thanks to his twin ponytails concealing that fact. But now, seeing it so soft and silky looking, Asano couldn't help himself from lightly tugging on the hair to convince himself that the hair was real and not a wig that Nagisa wore to complete his cross-dressing look.

He didn't know how, but somehow, Karma managed to capture that moment at an angle that made him look as if he was playing with Nagisa's hair. If possible, Karma's grin widened and Asano immediately knew what he wanted. Grinding his teeth together in an effort to hide his mounting anger, he cast a strained smile at Hiromi's expectant face.

"I knew I was in love with her the moment she transferred to my class," Asano slightly choked on his words before he visibly forced himself to continue.

"It was love at first sight since she completely took my breath away. I admire Nagisa's efforts to study at the library even when the others had gone back. Her gentle personality and stunning looks had won me over and I knew she was the only one for me."

All the while, Asano felt like he was near vomiting as he shuddered at every word. Oblivious to the teen's struggle, Hiromi was smiling giddily like a love-struck teen. After a moment, the smile disappeared and was replaced with a slight dark frown.

"Nagisa-chan is truly a wonderful child. If only she had gotten the first place on the exam…"

Maybe because of his ego of being indirectly challenged at his rank in the first place or maybe he used to experience the same uncaring attitude from his own father towards his achievements when he had worked to his bones for them but his next words had surprised him,

"You should not degrade her so easily, Shiota-san. Her grades had earned her respect and acknowledgment from the whole school, and admittedly, even my own father, the school director. A feat that is not easily accomplish by anyone," he said with a hard edge to his tone.

For a brief moment, Asano saw the dark glare directed at him before it was replaced with a smile,

"You are right, Asano-kun. My Nagisa-chan is the _perfect_ daughter! I'm sorry if I offended you in any way but it's just that I just bought the most beautiful necklace for her but she refused to wear it! You might say that it was a mother's hurt feeling towards the situation but in truth, I really am proud of my Nagisa-chan," Hiromi sighed sadly at the end of her sentence as her face contorted with hurt and sadness.

For a moment, Asano believed that the emotions were genuine but remembering Nagisa's own acting ability, he immediately banished the thought.

Dealing with the Shiotas was more dangerous than he initially thought.

"Mother, I've brought the biscuits for the guests."

Nagisa's soft voice was like music to his ears as he unknowingly prevented the line of conversation from continuing. He flashed a polite smile when Nagisa placed a plate of scones and biscuits in front of him. From the corner of his eye, he saw Hiromi glaring with dissatisfaction of being interrupted before she delicately took a bite from her own biscuit.

Internally, Asano sighed in relief.

* * *

Nagisa shifted uncomfortably under Karma's sharp glare. The three of them were currently inside Nagisa's room. His mother had long ago suggested that they 'have a talk' in his room but not without glaring angrily at Karma when he followed them.

At first, Nagisa was more than embarrassed when his own mother winked at him as they went to his room. But far too soon, the embarrassment died away and it was clear Karma was not going to be patient any longer.

Asano vaguely realised that Nagisa was wearing a necklace after his talk with Hiromi but immediately turned his attention when Nagisa let out a weary sigh.

"I always knew that you might find out. But I was hoping it wasn't this soon," he said with a tired smile before he cleared his throat.

At that moment, Asano realised just how exhausted the teen seemed to be. The effects of his fever from before had faded but still visible. The dark circles beneath his eyes showed how little sleep he was getting and it was made worse with the yellow bruise on his cheek that his mother had somehow forgotten about when they had talked earlier at the living room.

"What I said on the rooftop was the truth. I didn't lie. It's just that…. I didn't tell the **whole** truth. I guess, everything started when my father sudden appeared in front of our house and asked for a divorce. My mother got angry and started shouting at him, immediately making him run away from the house. But he didn't stop. Every so often, he would mail to us some divorce papers and mother would rip up the papers every time.

"The truth was he fell in love with another woman so he wanted mother to sign the divorce papers as soon as possible because he wanted to marry that woman. Since then, she was a little bit unstable, always crying and yelling for no reason at all. But the moment she completely changed was when she received my results from the school.

"After that, she turned normal. There was no more random breaking down or yelling but she was completely convinced that she only has one **daughter,** and she always call her _Nagisa-chan_."

At this point, Nagisa's tone turned bitter but when he cleared his throat before continuing, it was completely gone.

"And she thinks that Nagisa-chan is always a beautiful and smart girl. That's why she couldn't accept that Nagisa-chan wears the boy's school uniform and is in Class E. She forced her to wear dresses and skirts and went to meet the school director to transfer her to Class A. Nagisa-chan should always be the first in school so she forced her to study and threatened to disown her if she failed to get better results on the mock entrance exam."

While his eyes remained passive, Asano's fists tightened when he saw the detached expression and dead tone as Nagisa continued to tell the story from the third party's point of view, as if the mere thought of saying _he_ was the main character in that story was enough acknowledgement for him to submit to insanity.

"So Nagisa-chan tried really hard to make her happy. She changed herself to be exactly like her ideal daughter. She changed the way she spoke, changed the way she moved, changed the way she acted around other people. She studied hard to get better grades.

She even went as far as to make her former classmates hate her, if only because she hoped that they won't force her back to her old class. Because do you know, deep in her heart, _she doesn't want to change_."

At that moment of weakness, Asano saw a fragile and vulnerable child who was so desperate for the acceptance of his only parent. The scream for help couldn't be any louder. But it was gone in a blink of an eye and Nagisa was looking at the both of them with trepidation and hidden wariness.

Karma took a moment before he answered. But his answer was completely **not** what he was expecting!

"Then, maybe Nagisa-chan doesn't deserve to live."

Asano heard the sharp intake of breath from Nagisa and he shakily let it out. But before he could say anything, Karma was already speaking again with his glare never leaving the teal-haired androgynous teen.

"Maybe Nagisa-chan shouldn't even be born. Because when Nagisa-chan lives, Nagisa-kun is _dead_. And only her mother wants Nagisa-chan to live. Everyone else wants _Nagisa-kun and no one else._ " Karma said cruelly when Nagisa visibly flinched away from the words.

His body started to tremble since the moment Karma opened his mouth. His breathing was becoming faster and shallower and at the back of his mind, he knew he was going to hyperventilate soon.

But that was no excuse for him to violently shy away from Karma when he stepped closer towards him. A brief flash of hurt passed through his eyes that made Nagisa instantly guilty but it disappeared as fast as it appeared and left only a hard cold set of eyes in its awake.

"And if Nagisa- _chan_ refused to die, then I will kill her myself."

Karma's ruthless words made Asano's blood ran cold as realisation dawned on him that Akabane was dead serious. Warning bells rang inside his mind as the situation was quickly becoming dangerous. Akabane had always been impulsive and Asano feared that he would start attacking Shiota if he didn't defuse the thick atmosphere.

 _I am Shiota Nagisa._

 _I am currently in Class A and is a former Class E student._

 _In front of me is my best friend, Akabane Karma._

 _He gave me two choices;_

 _Betray my mother and be the real Shiota Nagisa,_

 _Or_

 _Betray him and be my mother's perfect Shiota Nagisa._


	9. AUTHOR'S NOTE (I'M SO SORRY)

**PLEASE READ**

Hey... so... I realise that it has been **months** since I last updated but honestly, I have no real solid reason for this except that life and motivation were not kind to me.

But the worst part is, when I FINALLY got over my writer's block and got my muse back, I can't open anymore.

That's right. For some unexplainable bullshit reason, my country effing BLOCK this website! (Please note the extreme rage the author is harbouring)

So yeah, can't update/read anymore which SUCKS... BIG TIME!

So I'm honest-to-God sorry that this happened because unless my country decided to stop being a jerk, I literally can't open this website. The only reason I can post this is because my friend still can access this but I have a feeling it won't be long.

So again, I so sorry to those that wanted to read the end of this story because I actually already wrote the next chapter and I'm honestly disappointed.

Thank you to everyone that read this story until now because your reviews and favourites are priceless to me. I'll try really hard to update this but like everything in life, nothing is guaranteed.

One last thing, if you guys have the time, please join in the petition to lift the ban off my country, Malaysia.

www(*dot*)thepetitionsite(*dot*)com/488/894/846/please-urge-the-malaysian-government-mcmc-to-unblock-fanfiction(*dot*)net-in-malaysia/

Please join the petition even if you're not Malaysian because you're still helping Malaysian authors (like me) and readers (also me)!

Hopefully, not for this last time,

DarkSakura159


	10. Fading away

**READ THIS!**

 **No, the ban of ff has not been lifted yet on my country but I'm trying to update the chapters that I already wrote while I can. Again, sadly, no guarantee for future chapters after this one. Review any request/ideas that you have for this story and I'll try to include them and read them while I can.**

* * *

Nagisa couldn't breathe.

Karma's red eyes were piercing, staring right deep into his own soul and Nagisa felt he was too exposed. But what made his heart stop was the intensity in those eyes, a fierce intensity of anger and hate burning like wild fire.

And everyone knows wild fire burns those who got close.

And Nagisa knew, he would be burned either way.

So he closed his eyes, looked away and didn't answer. But somehow, that was an answer itself because Karma immediately snarled and pulled his right fist back for a punch. Nagisa managed to dodge the first punch but in his haze of anger, Karma didn't realise that Nagisa was moving a little slower than usual, a little more sluggish than normal.

No, he didn't see any of those as he continued to land punches after punches while his target tried to evade them all. Nagisa didn't realise that somehow, they had moved from the middle of the room to the wall behind him. His eyes widened slightly when his back met the wall and knew he couldn't run anymore. From the look of Karma's dark smirk, he knew it too so Nagisa only braced himself for the pain to come as Karma pulled back his fist with an intent to hurt.

Only, somehow, it never did.

Because now stood in between Karma and himself was Asano Gakushu with his mouth set into a hard frown and eyes glaring at the red headed teen in front of him.

"Don't interfere, Asano!" Karma spat out in rage as he glared daggers at the son of the school director. But it didn't faze him in the slightest. Instead, his eyes only hardened and his hand that held Karma's fist tightened to the point that it went white.

"I refuse," Asano spat out.

"I was blackmailed by you, Akabane, to help Shiota-san. And that includes protecting him against _you_."

Both of their glares met and for a moment, none of them back down. Finally, Karma broke away first as he sneered mockingly and said with a hard tone,

"Since when did you become his knight in shining armour? Or does 'he' prefer me to call 'him' 'her' now?"

At this, he directed his glare at the teen behind Asano. Nagisa looked away and said with a soft voice, "Maybe you should go back, Karma-kun."

His words only further enraged the angry teen but when he saw Asano still standing protectively in front of him, his eyes narrowed before he sharply turned on his heels and stormed out of the room.

Asano stood his guard until he heard the sound of the front door being slammed shut. His tense stance relaxed and without uttering a single word, he too made a move to leave the room. But just as his fingers touched the metal doorknob, Nagisa's voice was heard from behind him,

"Thank you, Asano-kun."

Asano didn't respond and simply left.

Unknown to any of them, a certain yellow octopus was listening to their whole conversation with his skin turning a dark red and a slight dark grin on his usually smiling face.

* * *

The usually calm atmosphere on top of the mountain was replaced by the sounds of students grunting and puffing in effort to land a blow with their anti-sensei knives on their PE teacher. Unbeknown to them, their former classmate was watching them from the safety of the shadows in silence. School hours had long since passed but it had become the habit of the residents of Class E to stay back after class to train with Karasuma-sensei.

All of them wanted to polish up their skills, especially as the deadline to assassinate their teacher drew closer. Watching from a far, Nagisa could clearly see the fruit of their hard work. If before Karasuma asked all of them to strike him at the same time, now he asked only two to fight him at one time.

They could actually land hits with their knives now, evident from the small lines of red paint that littered Karasuma-sensei's body from the dripping paint on the tip of their knives. But none could touch his vital organs. He was far too trained to protect himself for them to make a fatal blow.

However, through all of this, Nagisa never did saw the flash of red hair anywhere.

"Nagisa-kun."

Nagisa was broken out of his musings when a familiar voice greeted him from behind.

A familiar voice that he had missed dearly.

An involuntary smile made its way on his face as he turned around to greet the person.

"Korosensei."

He gladly accepted the warm calm presence that always came with being near to Korosensei. His house had long ago lost its homey acceptance, leaving behind a cold silent atmosphere to greet him whenever he came home.

"Nagisa-kun, do you really wanted to change classes?"

The question was sudden but not unexpected. Nagisa didn't even turn his head to face his former teacher as he answered with a neutral tone,

"My answer doesn't matter, Korosensei. We only have four weeks left before graduation but before that, I will kill you and as soon as I do, nothing will tie me to this class ever again."

Korosensei didn't answer but suddenly Nagisa felt his hair behind his neck disappeared, letting a cool breeze lightly teased the exposed skin. Two familiar weights were felt on his head and he realised that Korosensei had tied his hair into their usual twintails in Mach 20.

"If you don't mind, Nagisa-kun, can you wear your hair like this for a while. Sensei miss his student very much," the teacher said with his usual grin on his face.

Nagisa didn't speak but a small nostalgic smile was on his face. It was peaceful as both of them were content of watching Class E training with Karasuma-sensei. A comfortable silence enveloped them and from the corner of his eyes, Korosensei saw the serene expression that he guessed was becoming quite rare these days on his prized assassin.

That's why, he hated the fact that he was the one who had to break the relaxed atmosphere.

"Nagisa-kun, sensei heard your conversation with Asano-kun and Karma-kun yesterday. Nagisa-kun, you do know that what your mother is doing to you is considered abuse and you can be taken away from her custody."

He had to give the boy credit. He didn't show any signs that the sudden topic made him uncomfortable. Instead, the calm expression remained intact. Briefly, he wondered with a tint of sorrow how many times this boy had experience to be able to show not even the hint of his true feelings because he highly doubted that Nagisa wasn't effected by the question as he seemed.

"I think you're mistaken, Korosensei."

An image of a snake coiled around him appeared, the snake slowly but surely trying to squeeze him to the point that he couldn't breathe. But Korosensei didn't panic. He simply evaded the knife with his Mach 20 speed with the grin never faltering.

"I'm afraid that you are no longer my teacher, and I am no longer your student. Now, we are simply target and assassin. You do not have to care about my life, and I do not care about this class," Nagisa said smoothly while trying to stab Korosensei without stopping.

Of course, Korosensei was still an inhuman being with the speed of Mach 20 and he was still the weak Nagisa from before. His attempt was easily stopped when his former teacher caught the knife with a white handkerchief.

"Yesterday, sensei saw Karma-kun and Nagisa-kun fighting."

Gently, he took the knife away from Nagisa and reached out his tentacles towards him. His instinct overcame him and he immediately tried to shy away from the touch but it was futile. Panic seized him when multiple tentacles held his limbs, trapping him in their mercy as another pair gently grabbed the hem of his shirt and slightly pulled them up, exposing his stomach.

His stomach that was far too thin for a boy his age.

"When Nagisa-kun tried to attack sensei, sensei saw your movement getting slower and that's when sensei's suspicion was confirmed. Nagisa-kun, is your mother starving you?" The tone he used was gentle and innocent but the dangerous gleam in his eyes told him otherwise.

A chill ran down from his spine and Nagisa was reminded that the one standing in front of him was the true God of Death, a true assassin who had killed countlessly before. But even with the fear screaming at him to run away in his mind, Nagisa refused to lose.

If he did, then everything would be ruined.

So he only flashed the God of Death an innocent smile, gently breaking free of the tentacles prison when Korosensei finally loosened his grip before he unexpectedly threw an anti-sensei knife at the teacher. Since a human's throw was painfully slow compared to his speed, he managed to effectively dodge it without a problem.

But he was not prepared when Nagisa fired off a few anti-sensei bullets from the gun he had previously strapped on his upper thigh. He barely managed to dodge the incoming bullets but a suddenly explosion of one of his tentacle made him stopped dead in his track.

Behind him, he had unknowingly walked onto a ground with BB pallets scattered all over the place. That was when he realised his student had thrown the knife to distract him so that he won't notice that the bullets were not aimed at him, rather, at the tree behind him. Seeing as the bullet were not made of metal, they simply bounced off from the tree, resulting them being scattered everywhere.

Korosensei didn't know what to think about the situation when he turned around just to be faced with two barrels on guns aiming straight at him at blank point range. He had expected something like this from the devious Karma, never from the innocent and gentle Nagisa.

"I think you still don't understand, _sensei_. I no longer have any obligations to answer your question, and you have no right trespassing into my home and interrogating me about my life. A target should just die, and do nothing more," Nagisa softly spoke, his bangs casting a shadow over his eyes, creating an illusion of a pair of glowing menacing eyes.

The eyes of a Reaper.

Again, the snake appeared for the second time but instead of the regular snake he saw earlier, Korosensei saw the most terrifying sight seen in a student.

Instead of the normal Nagisa, he saw him with skin the same pattern of a snake, half of his face was covered with the scales of the same design with a single snake that could easily be the size of an anaconda coiled around his body until its head was on his left shoulder from behind, its mouth opened to reveal sharp fangs waiting for its prey and eyes so black similar to an abyss staring straight at Korosensei. A similar pair of fangs adorned Nagisa's own mouth. His hair that was tied earlier had lost its hairbands, letting it flow gently behind him.

Korosensei was not looking at a student, he was looking at a Gorgon.

He had never felt this kind of fear since he left his career as an assassin. And despite having the speed of Mach 20, the fear he felt had frozen him onto the spot.

Never in his wildest dreams did he imagined someone so young could be this horrifying.

"But if you're really worried that much…" Nagisa trailed off and the image disappeared, leaving the normal Nagisa in its place.

"I'm just on a simple diet to get rid of the excessive fat. Maybe I might have taken it a little too extreme but it's not as near as starving myself. My mother has no part of this whatsoever."

The two guns disappeared from in front of his eyes as Nagisa carelessly shrugged.

"I know I won't be able to shoot you because of your speed, so I don't want to waste these bullets."

He turned around and was ready to leave the grounds of his former class but before he did, he left one last message to the homeroom teacher,

"But don't relax yet, Korosensei. Because I will kill you, no matter what."

With the last sound of fading footsteps, Korosensei was left alone, or so Nagisa believed. Behind the shadows of the trees, a silhouette stepped forward towards the standing octopus, letting the orange sundown casting its last dying lights on the figure, revealing a stoic Karasuma-sensei.

"It seems the lack of proper nutrients his age had dulled Nagisa-kun's usually sharp sense. He didn't realise that I was here and the students had been practising by themselves for quite some time now," Karasuma-sensei commented offhandedly but Korosensei didn't miss the hard eyes when he spoke about Nagisa's health.

"An act to throw me off guard from his current well being, using his bloodlust to convince me that he was far from being weak," Korosensei said with his grin slightly smaller than usual.

"That boy is truly gifted in the art of assassination."

They both acknowledged the talent hidden beneath those seemingly innocent smile, yet, none of them had to say anything to know that right in front of their very eyes, that talent that used to shine so brightly before, was slowly fading away until they feared that it would completely disappear.


	11. Talking with father

I AM BACK! SO SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG FOR THIS BUT I HONESTLY FORGOT THAT I DIDN'T POST THIS CHAPTER YET! o(╥﹏╥)o I HAD THIS CHAPTER SITTING IN MY LAPTOP FOR **MONTHS**!

* * *

Karma stormed angrily out of the school, his face darkened to the point where children that saw him would run away crying to their parents. Yesterday's events were not forgotten and instead of letting the anger cooled off, it was only burned brighter when he was harshly remembered about his attack on Nagisa when he saw the hard glare directed at him by Asano.

His teeth were gritted so harshly that his jaw was turning numb but he didn't care. His fists were clenched so tightly that his knuckles were turning white and crescent shaped wound appeared on his palms, slightly drawing out blood. His eyes were glaring harshly at anyone who dared to look his way, causing a few adults to avoid his path and a few children to cry at the sight of the 'scary man'.

Karma would not lie to himself, he was still bitter about the incident. An overwhelming betrayal washed over him when he saw his best friend refusing his help, refusing to be saved. It was soon followed by a furious blinding rage that made him attacked the teal haired teen. In his mind, he wanted to hurt Nagisa, hurt him to the point that he would finally realise that he should leave that hateful woman that he had called as his mother.

Yes, Karma was livid.

But only because he hated so much that he was helpless to his friend's suffering so long as he refused his help.

He was skipping the extra PE class that Karasuma-sensei had generously offered. He didn't give a damn about it as he walked to the familiar path to a familiar arcade. The various noise immediately assaulted his ears as soon as he stepped into the arcade. Without even thinking, his feet carried him to the sole empty shooting game that was at the furthest corner of the shop.

He held the plastic, albeit a little heavy, gun with both of his hands. The start button was worryingly slightly cracked at the intense force fueled by his anger when Karma slammed his fists on it. As if fear to invoke the devil's wrath, the machine instantly came to life and started the game.

Grotesque bloody zombies appeared on the screen but Karma didn't even bat an eye as he killed off the zombies one by one, unperturbed by the amount of blood displayed from the seemingly flawless headshots.

He directed his anger at the game, the trigger of the fake gun cracking slightly under the force of Karma's rage. Unknown to him, or maybe purposely ignoring them, a crowd started to form around him, each of them held awe and admiration as he killed the insanely difficult boss without even sweating. It wasn't long before the cheers and yells started, encouraging him to beat the onslaught of bloody zombified teddy bears but Karma ignored them all.

Realising that his frustration was not ebbing away like he hoped to, he dropped the plastic gun and let nightmare-inducing teddy bears to end his life. Shouts of disappointment were heard but Karma was vaguely amused when the name CHIBA and HANAMI were on the first and second place at the high score but it was instantly wiped away when yet again, Nagisa invaded his mind.

Leaving the now chaotic arcade, his mind took him back to the time when he confronted Asano at the rooftop after Nagisa left them there.

" _Why do you care for Shiota-san that much?!"_ _Asano spat out in pure venom._ _He knew he was cornered and playing dumb would only cause Karma make true of his words._

 _He refused to go back to that time again!_

 _He expected Karma to answer with his usual laid back personality. He shouldn't be surprised that Karma would be dead serious when it comes to the teal haired teen. He wasn't dense enough to miss the signs that Akabane Karma was protective of Shiota Nagisa._

 _Yet, he was still surprised when Karma looked at him with the most serious expression he had ever seen on the mischievous teen, no humor in his eyes and no smirk adoring his lips as he said with a calm yet flat tone._

" _He saved my life."_

Karma still remembered the times before Nagisa had saved him.

He was still a violent delinquent when he first met the teen. At that time, he still took pleasure in hearing those worthless trash whimper in pain and agony, begging him to stop. He was already far smarter than the rest of the class, and it was not hard to guess why the school did not transfer him to Class A despite his intelligence.

His feet momentarily stopped on their own accord when he arrived in front of black spiked steel gates. Behind those huge gates was an even bigger mansion that captivated almost everyone that had a glimpse of the building. But despite its grand appearance, Karma knew only emptiness laid inside.

The sight of his own abode caused him to grimly remember the reason for his past self's actions.

Since young, he was desperate for the attention that children craved from their parents. His parents were seldom home, opting to continue their successful business overseas rather than spending time with their only child.

" _Karma-kun, your mother and I are going to Italy for 2 months."_

" _I want to go too!"_

" _I'm sorry, sweetie. But your father and I are very busy people. Please understand, Karma-kun."_

As he stepped foot into the dark home, Karma wondered how Nagisa, who had his own family problem, managed to pull him out of the seemingly never ending darkness.

There was a time that Karma had tried to grab their attention with his smarts, but it was futile since his intelligence was to be expected.

" _Mommy! Look! I got first place!"_

" _Good boy, Karma-kun. By the way, I will be going to French for 5 months. So be a good boy and listen to your nanny, okay?"_

" _B-But they gave me tickets for the amusement park! I-I want to go together with you!"_

" _I'm sorry, sweetheart. Later, okay?"_

Not long after, the lack of family love and warmth had turned his heart cold but the deepest corner of his heart his longed for their presences so he rebelled everything to make them notice him.

" _NO! I REFUSE TO GO SUCH USELESS EVENT!"_

" _Karma-kun! Do not talk to your mother that way!"_

" _I DON'T GIVE A DAMN! YOU WEREN'T EVEN THERE FOR MY PERFORMANCE THAT_ _ **YOU**_ _INSISTED THAT_ _ **I**_ _JOINED!"_

Alas! It was once again in vain when they didn't even give him a second glance when they briefly went home to pick up some files before taking off to another foreign country. Slowly, he found sadistic pleasure in causing those ungrateful trashes pain. Ungrateful because they did not realise how their actions would only cause pain to their hopeful parents.

" _YOU BASTARD! I'LL KILL YOU!"_

The silence of cold unwelcoming atmosphere greeted him, only occasionally broken by the echoes of his footsteps. Still lost in his sea of memories, he passed by the kitchen and went straight to his room. He flung himself onto his bed as soon as it was in sight but the train of memories continued.

By then, he was already too lost into the endless abyss of the lonely darkness. The school was wary of him, the students and teachers alike feared him. But no one touched him since he was a valuable asset to the school, as long as he only hurt those so-called 'trash of the community'.

This continued until the mid year of his first year. In midst of elite students who looked down on others inferior to them, finding someone who enjoyed comics were non-existent.

Until he met Shiota Nagisa.

The moment he laid eyes on him, Karma could only rise his eyebrows. With his long blue coloured hair (he was so sure that was against the school rules!) tied into a ponytail and his petite frame, he was bound to be the target of the lesser bullies in the class. Add to the fact he looked just like a timid harmless creature, he was practically begging them to make his life a living hell.

But somehow, he knew this androgynous boy was different than the others.

And he was not disappointed.

One day, while others were studying for an exam that was lightyears away, Nagisa was reading one of his favourite comics, Sonic Ninja. Excited beyond belief that he found someone to share his interest, he shamelessly invaded the teen's personal space and invited him to watch the movie.

He expected fear, if not a lot, then at least a little, but all he saw was the startled expression on his face, as if he couldn't believe someone was actually _talking_ to him, before he gave him a warm smile and agreed.

It was the first time Akabane Karma felt the hollow feeling in his heart disappeared a little.

" _And it's showing today?! Let's go watch it, Shiota!"_

 _A startled face._

 _Then, a smile._

" _Yeah."_

Absent-mindedly, Karma played the anti-sensei knife between his fingers. The artificial light that lit his room would shine the knife a vibrant green colour. From his horizontal positon, he made quick jabs with the knife, pretending an invisible enemy was in front of him. Really, it was a pitiful attempt to stop these memories but just like him, the memories resisted and stayed, playing in his mind like an unwanted record.

Slowly but surely, the constant presence of a human that held no fear towards himself caused the empty hole in his chest to be filled. Nagisa was not afraid of him, something that greatly surprised him! He didn't even flinch when he had violently gotten into a fight with a group of gangster and was surrounded with broken unconscious bodies!

Unknown to Nagisa, he became the light Karma desperately needed to guide himself out of that never ending loneliness.

" _Hey, Nagisa-kun."_

" _Hm?"_

" _Aren't you scared of me?"_

" _Of course not."_

"… _.Why?"_

 _A serene smile._

" _Because I know Karma-kun will never hurt me."_

Unknowingly, Shiota Nagisa had saved Akabane Karma from himself.

Unconsciously, his grip on the knife tightened and a dark look passed his eyes when he remembered their second year.

It was his fault from the start. He should have known Nagisa's insecurities. Should have realised his sudden cold shoulder would only reduce that little to none self-confidence in Nagisa. Should have notice the hurt and pain that he tried to ignore on his face.

All because he was scared of the seemingly timid harmless creature.

" _Nagisa-kun!"_

" _?"_

 _A grin that held none of the usual dark contempt._

" _Happy birthday."_

" _E-e-eh?! H-how did you know?"_

 _Red coloured the flustered face as he looked at the warped blue present._

" _Open it!"_

 _Cautious hands slowly opened the box, as if wanting to savour every moment._

" _!"_

 _The grin turned fond as the bewildered and slightly confused expression._

" _Because I always think Nagisa-kun is only showing half of himself. One day, I'll discover all of you."_

 _Warmth melting the last of his ice cold heart as the person who saved him hugged the present to his chest and looked at him with sheer gratitude and joy._

" _Thank you, Karma-kun."_

A bitter smile graced his lips as he carelessly threw the knife away.

Just like the characters in his favourite Sonic Ninja, he always wanted to be a hero, but the twisted Fate had cursed him to be the villain from the start.

Suddenly, his eyes hardened, determination clear in his expression.

He lazily rolled until he was on the edge of the bed and reached beneath his bed. After a few minutes of searching, he pulled his hand back to reveal metal knife with the same size as a regular anti-sansei knife. The knife gleamed sinisterly under the artificial light in Karma's room.

If he was the villain, so be it. He would do anything as long as the hero survived in the end.

Even if it means letting the hero kill him.

* * *

Asano Gakushu was no means a pushover.

So it was obvious that he would greatly resent Akabane Karma for playing him like a fool. But surprisingly, he did nothing to stop the delinquent from blackmailing him. If he truly wished so, he could easily think up of a counterattack against Akabane.

Surprisingly, he didn't.

He would not admit to anyone, especially to that devil, but for some unexplainable reason, he was compelled to help the fragile Shiota Nagisa. For the first time in a long time, he remembered that he really did have a heart.

Asano was broken out of his musings when his father spoke to him, his voice bounced off the silent dining room.

"Asano-kun, how is your studies?"

Asano did not give any indication of his surprise through his expression as he evenly answered. It was rare for his father to be with him during dinner, least of all asking him question he already knew the answer to. In the past, whenever there wasn't anything in particular to learn, they never held any conversation.

"Just fine, father."

His father hummed in satisfaction.

"Very good. I hope the event of the final second semester exam do not repeat again. I expect you to continue scoring the first place in high school as well and never lose to that detestable delinquent ever again."

Although his tone was smooth Asano could hear the warning threat laying underneath those words. That answer was expected but Asano was surprised to hear the lack of malicious in those words. He elegantly placed his fork and spoon side by side on his now empty plate before he answered.

"Of course, father. It won't be long until I'll even exceed you,"

Asano sent a challenging smile at his own father and in return, Director Asano sent him his. And just for a second, Asano relished the moment between them. It was rare but this was how the two of them would bond in their own twisted deranged way.

As the maids and butlers took away their empty plates and brought out the desserts for today, Asano silently mused to himself. The silence this time was not relaxing but it wasn't uncomfortable either. To Asano, compared to the usual tense silence from before, it could almost be described as comforting.

"Asano-kun, how is your classmate, Shiota Nagisa, faring?"

Asano's head snapped up in shock at the unexpected topic but the director simply continued his ice-cream parfait. Seeing the shock in his son's face, Asano Gakuho smiled in amusement.

"That boy had caused quite a commotion with his unexpected transfer and recently, his results. I have received nothing but complains about that boy, both from students and teachers. Also, it was the first time I had to approve such ridiculous request. Of course I would ask about him sooner or later," Gakuho explained casually.

He knew that his son was a smart boy and would immediately understand what request he was talking. And he was not disappointed. With the girl's uniform in mind, Asano asked the expected question,

"Why did you approve?"

Unfortunately for Asano, his father did not want to answer that question now.

"There is also another reason why I am quite concerned for the boy. You see, just the other day, I saw Shiota-san was being bullied by two students from Class D. While I do not mind them doing those actions towards Class E, Shiota-san is a member of Class A now and I do not consent low class students hurting a student from the upper class. Fortunately, the problem was quickly resolved," Gakuho casually told him.

Asano instantly remembered the day a few days before of the report two students being expelled for unknown reasons. His face remained passive and uninterested but he was mentally storing the information in his mind.

Somehow, he had a feeling Akabane has no knowledge of this information.

Asano narrowed his eyes.

"What do you want with him?" Asano asked coldly, surprising himself with the amount of venom in that sentence alone. But there is only mirth in Gakuho's eyes.

"Nothing at all, Asano-kun. Just remember not to cause any trouble when you are with the 'detestable delinquent' Akabane Karma. You are still the president of the student council and represent this school even though your graduation is getting near. I expect your plans to go on smoothly, with nothing to support that fact except the fact that you are my son."

And it was with speechless unblinking surprise on Asano Gakushu's face that Asano Gakuho left his son at the dining table alone.


End file.
